Gambit
by Birgit Staebler (with Laura Boeff)
Off the Florida keys, just close to the entrance of the Gulf of Mexico a cargo ship lumbered across the gently undulating waves on this pleasant day. The Good Fortune II's owner, Captain Tom Harris, allowed himself a satisfied smile as he surveyed his ship from the control room. He was an aging man whose once youthful body was giving way to the tatters of time and too many donuts. But not without a fight.
Nothing Captain Harris did was without a fight. His ex-wife would confirm this. But today he was happy. They were approaching the Panama straight and in another two days they'd be docking in southern California. Then he'd finally be rid of this strange cargo. Usually he never took on private cargo transports, but the offer had been too good to be ignored. Now he was transporting a metal container the size of two railroad cars, and he had no idea what was inside.
The Captain started as a loud booming noise shuddered through the expansive hull. Where had that come from? Another boom, this much heavier. His frown deepened. It sounded like someone was banging against the hull..... One of his men started shouting and waving, and he stared at the loading bay doors, which had started to bulge outwards. Something inside seemed to try to get out.
The cargo.
What the heck...?
More noises came from down there and suddenly the ship tilted heavily sideways. Harris lost his grip on the steering wheel and was flung against the side wall. The ship tried to right itself, groaning and shuddering. Alarms went off on his control console.
"What the..... no!"
Water in the hull...... he had a hole in his ship!
The ship groaned again and when it tilted this time, it stayed that way. Harris saw a tentacle or something similar rise left of the bridge, then everything drowned in chaos.

* * *

A normal day. A typical, normal day. No monsters, no sightings of something unusual, no Major Hicks calling them on a wild monster hunt, just a really normal day. Elsie smiled as she worked on her latest project, feeling actually a bit disappointed. Life with H.E.A.T. was just a never-ending adventure and having quiet days was unnerving to them as hectic days were to others.
Elsie blinked at the sudden scuffle from behind her. She paused, looking over her shoulder into the make-shift living room. Over time an area in the lab had grown into a home away from home, centered around a small color t.v., growing into a chair and the world's most beat on and most undeniably comfortable couch, with its equally beat on coffee table. On the couch was Nick, who had crashed about an hour earlier and was now safely tucked inside one of Elsie's mothers afghans.
Elsie allowed herself a smile, seeing only Nick's feet hanging over the couch's arm. He looked so cute when he slept. Nick had a habit of totally cocooning himself in his blanket till he was wrapped tighter than a mummy. Her smile grew at the memory of one of Randy's tricks. Elsie had helped, too. How couldn't she, the idea had been brilliant! Wrapped so tightly in his blanket, Nick might be warm, but he was also totally immobile. Randy had grabbed his arms and Elsie his feet and Nick was rudely woken as his friends hijacked him for a friendly tour of New York. The look on his face had been priceless when they had decided to go see a movie. Blanket and all.
Elsie laughed. Oh, Nick was not about to forget that little bit of humiliation. Surely revenge would come, but it was well worth the price. Well worth it!
She just caught the sight of his foot kicking. A small motion, followed by a more aggressive jab. Now she frowned. Nick wasn't one for nightmares. She left her computer and walked around the couch as Nick suddenly twisted, still wrapped in his afghan. It wasn't a thrash or panicky gesture. It almost seemed familiar as he lifted his head in his sleep, breath gusting. He twisted again and kicked his foot, body curling down.
"Nick!" Elsie shouted, trying to soften Nick's fall as he suddenly rolled off the couch.
She could only help ease some of his impact as he landed in a tangle with a surprised thud.
"Nick, you okay?" Elsie asked worriedly as Nick blinked confusedly, struggling to free himself of the afghan.
"Huh, yeah, I guess so. What happened?" he asked sleepily, slowly working himself free and upright.
"You were having a dream. Must have been a doozey, because you rolled right off the couch."
"Dream? I don't remember dreaming," Nick muttered, standing, holding a severely crumbled blanket. He let out a shrug. "Given the way things have been lately I'm surprised I don't have nightmares," he chuckled.
Elsie gave him a pat on the shoulder.
"That's my man of steel," she teased, getting the embarrassed response she desired. Nick was so damn cute when caught off guard. "There's still some chili on the stove if you're hungry," she offered, sitting back down to her work.
Nick rubbed absently at his stomach. "Sounds good," he admitted, investigating the covered pot. "Extra spicy?"
"Extinguisher's by the sink, in case you need it."
"Ohh, that sounds promising," Nick chuckled, lading up a bowl. "Anything exciting going on?"
"Just wait a second..." Elsie paused as Nick downed a spoonful of chili. "Five, four, three, two.."
"Oh..oh..oh. Hooottt!" Nick exclaimed, panting heavily as his brain registered the spices he had just eaten. "Hot hot hot hot hot!"
"Now something's happening," Elsie announced as Nick gulped down the last remnants of her soda.
He took a breather, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. "Damn, this is good!" he proclaimed.
Elsie laughed. "Yeah, but don't let Randy hear that, he's self absorbed enough as is."

* * *

"There's the salvage teams. We established contact."
"Good. Get us closer."
The dark gray ship cut through the deep blue sea, buoyed slightly by the waves. Several more ships were not far away, one of them a heavy duty crane carrier. Navy edition. A heavily built man in his mid-forties with a receding hairline stood at the bow of the unmarked ship, surveying the ocean with a pair of binoculars. He was dressed in army fatigues. A younger man, blond and more slender, stood beside him. He was equally dressed in Army issue fatigues, but he had a patch on his arm, identifying him as a special unit member.
"About time you showed up!" a man's voice boomed over the radio.
Major Tony Hicks raised an eyebrow. That was the Navy for you. Always a friendly word for the Army. The man who had 'hailed' them was the captain of the salvage boat, one of the old breed, someone who lived for the sea. He might be part of the Navy, but he was also a sailor.
"Nice to meet you too, Captain...?"
"Frasier," was the gruff reply. "I know who you are, so skip the formalities. Don't have all week to raise some lil' tub that ran into trouble."
"Charming personality," the blond man at Hick's side muttered, smiling.
"Come alongside the Green Meany and meet me on the deck," Frasier went on. "We've got the preliminary recovery done, we're working on the secondary now."
"On our way. Hicks out."
"Secondary recovery?" the younger officer asked, curious.
"They have recovered the ships themselves. Now they are rescuing the cargo lost," Hicks explained, as their captain deftly turned the ship toward a flat green boat with the name Green Meany emblazoned on the side. It had the Navy seal next to it.
"Kind of a lost cause."
Hicks shrugged. "Depends on the cargo."
"The Good Fortune's cargo manifest stated it was carrying cooking oil in fifty gallon drums," the man read from a notepad.
"Whatever they carried, we are more interested what sunk them. The only survivor, a sailor, babbled something about giant tentacles. If it was a monster attack, we need to find out."

* * *

Godzilla slipped along the uneven floor, occasionally scraping against barnacle reefs that shattered and broke free on impact. There was human activity near here. Two large ships hauling up the remains of another. It held no interest in him as he kept clear of the boats.
He broke water only long enough to breathe and went back under, searching the crystal waters. Things were much clearer here than in his own home territory. It made seeing easier, but it also made being seen easier. Godzilla was not keen on that, twisting to check behind him.
Something was here. Something he didn't want here. But where was it? What was it, didn't matter. Once the trouble was found Godzilla would deal with it like he did with all other intruders.

* * *

"Your pacing again," Elsie stated, coming up the flight of stairs to the upper floor.
She was beginning to worry. Nick was not a pacer. He fretted and suffered bouts of self doubt, but he didn't pace.
"Huh?" Nick mumbled, startled, then stopped. He hadn't even been aware he had been pacing. His mind seemed to be elsewhere. "Sorry, just fried nerves I guess," he offered, leaning against the desk.
"You need a vacation Nick. Heck, we're all due," Elsie sighed, leaning beside him.
It had become way too natural to watch the world go by as they rushed from one end of the planet to the other, chasing down monsters, and other environmental problems.
"Vacation, what's that?" Nick laughed. He scrubbed a hand over his face.
"You know, sun, sand, you putting lotion on my back on a nice secluded beach."
Nick's eyes widened slightly and he blushed. Elsie smiled. He was so damn cute when he was bashful.
"Truthfully though, Nick. You do need a breather," she said a little more seriously.
"Not disagreeing with you, Elsie, but..." He waved at the air, frustrated.
"But what? If you have a problem, Nick, I'll listen," Elsie offered. God, they'd all been through so much together already, the thought of any in the team in trouble just brought out Elsie's mother-hen instincts. With Nick, even more so.
"I've... ever since the bond came through.... I've been having the oddest dreams and feelings. I know how to separate them, but still... it's been getting really strange in the last days. I feel nervous, tense.. paranoid." Nick turned to her. "I'm many things, but I'm not paranoid...am I?"
"Only where Godzilla is concerned," Elsie answered honestly. "I think a vacation is in order. For all of us," she decided. "Even Godzilla."
"Motion seconded," Nick piped, smiling.
"Aw, I love a man who yields to my authority."
Nick just rolled his eyes.

* * *

The shadow drifted to the sea floor flattening against the jagged contours. There was activity above, one he was interested in. The one he had been told to find. Another shadow moved nearby, sweeping effortlessly overhead and the shadow slipped into every crook and cranny, watching the other above.
The other, his intended target, did lazy circles, square head shifting back an forth in a search pattern. There was a soft, constant rumble, accompanied by the pressure of displaced water as its tail propelled it through the water.
The shadow unfolded its stinging barbs, but otherwise remained still.

Godzilla skimmed above the ocean floor. Scent was not an option here in the water, but instinctually Godzilla knew something was here. Something he wanted to find. Something that had followed him.

* * *

Night had fallen over the whole of Manhattan, though one would be hard pressed to tell. The stars were never visible against the ever present city lights that gave the island its own perpetual glow.
"Want to go to the movies?" Randy asked, the newspaper sprawled out on the table before him.
"What's playing?" Elsie returned, leaning over his shoulder.
"Uh, let's see. Monster of the Deep part 2," he suggested.
"Naw, boring. How about a comedy?"
"Look, a new Gibson movie." Randy pointed.
"Hum, hunky older man, I'm into that," Elsie agreed, looking over to Nick who was pacing in front of the windows. "Hey, Nick, how's a movie sound?" she called.
He went on pacing, oblivious to her, always looking out the window till she went a grabbed his arm startling him.
"Earth to Nick," She teased. "You okay?"
"What, yeah, I'm fine."
"Come on to the movies with us," Elsie suggested as Randy snagged Nick in a friendly headlock.
"Yeah, Effe, you are way too tense," he laughed, attempting to give Nick a noogy.
Nick broke free, making a halfhearted swipe at Randy who danced out of range. "I guess I can do a movie."
"All right! I get to drive," Randy laughed, running for the elevator.
"Over my dead body!" Elsie roared, giving chase.
"Dibs, dibs, dibs," Randy chanted, all the way down.
Nick took the stairs at a more leisurely pace. It would allow Elsie and Randy to fight out the driving order. He paused out side, looking at the dark Hudson bay. Somehow he expected to see Godzilla rising out of the waters, but he didn't. As far as Nick could tell, the lizard was somewhere out in the ocean, patrolling his territory.
With a sigh he forced himself away from the water toward the garage. Randy was probably right. He was probably just too tense. Maybe he was coming down with something. The flu was going around, so it wouldn't be such a great surprise.

* * *

Nick felt sick to the bone. His head ached, a pulsing pain behind his eyes and forehead, and it was hard to move. There was a gnawing pain in his joints, like he was about to get a really bad cold. His stomach told him he wanted to throw up whatever was inside, even if there was nothing. He had been unable to eat properly for the last twenty-four hours anyway. And there was a constant pain in his left forearm, as if he had pulled a muscle or twisted the joint. He couldn't remember lifting anything heavy or falling on his arm, even if there had been a lot of action lately. He had seen a doctor, but the man had been unable to find anything. He was blaming the summer flu for it, or stress, too much work, nervous inflammation of the left forearm because of abuse, whatever he could find. Nick believed in none of it.
"Nick?"
He looked up from where he sat huddled on the couch, wrapped in a blanket. Now and then a cold shiver hit him and Nick just couldn't get warm. The next moment he was burning up inside. Elsie Chapman stepped into his line of view, pale face worried. She had hung around the ferry building this afternoon, trying not to hover because Nick insisted he would be fine, but her motherly nature had broken through. While the others were already home, Elsie wouldn't leave him.
"You look even worse than this morning."
"Thanks," he rasped.
The strange virus or whatever had hit two days ago in the middle of the night. He had gotten up and felt like he had been through a wringer. Elsie had shoved him off to a doctor friend of hers, but that had been wasted time in Nick's opinion. Now he had a prescription for anti-inflammatories and pain-killers.
She sat down next to him and touched his forehead. "Slight fever. Did you take the medication Dr. Summers prescribed?"
"Yeah." Nick leaned back, his body aching in all the wrong places. The pain in his forearm flared and he clenched his teeth. The painkillers just didn't do the trick. Whenever the pain hit, it was as if a truck sat on his wrist. With spiked wheels.
The worried frown on Elsie's face grew. "This is not normal. You should be free of almost all pain for a period of time, Nick."
"Tell me about it." He closed his eyes and wished he could just go to bed and sleep forever. But he couldn't. Even when he slept the pain was most prominent on his mind. It drove him up the walls and down the opposite side.
And then it hit. Badly. Nick gave a cry of pain and doubled over, his hand on fire. It burned as if someone had cut it open with a hot knife and was pouring acid in it. Tears ran down his cheeks and he wasn't even aware of the arms around his shoulders until a bit of the agony faded away. But in that time, he was thrown around in his own mind, no longer Nico Tatopoulos but someone else.
"Godzilla...." he whimpered.
"It's coming from him?" Elsie exclaimed, connecting the dots lightning fast. No wonder. After nearly a year of the bond between Nick and Godzilla existing, there was no hesitation anymore.
Nick was panting now, eyes watery, and he had curled around his hurting limb. "I...I..." Then he was overwhelmed again. With a scream he fell against Elsie.

She held him, letting him ride out the alien feed of pain. It was all she could do anyway. Elsie felt so powerless! Nick was suffering from such pain and she couldn't do anything to ease it. Just hold on, keep body contact, and talk soothingly to him. It had helped in the past, but in the past it had been suddenly broken shields, not something like this.
There was a noise from outside. She flinched and looked up, trying to see something through the windows. There was only darkness beyond them. But the noise was familiar. Nick whimpered and there was an answering whimper from outside the window.
"Godzilla," she whispered.
Nick went limp in her arms and she carefully laid him on the floor, checking his pulse. It was strong and regular, but he looked too pale and too sick to her eyes. His face was drawn, rings under his eyes, and a feverish sheen of sweat on his skin. Elsie stumbled over to the window and peered outside. What she saw made her heart miss a beat.
Godzilla.
Stretched out on the docking ramp, broken down like a puppet whose strings had been cut. In the light of the lamps she could barely see enough, but something glistened wetly on one forearm and it wasn't water.
"Oh my god....."
"Hurt him," a weak voice from behind her whispered and she whirled around.
Nick had woken from his brief unconsciousness and was trying to get up. She hurried over to him and helped him up. Nick staggered over to the window, eyes unnaturally wide and filled with suffering. One hand touched the window glass.
"Hurt," he repeated.
Yes, the big lizard was hurt. A sizable wound was just above his wrist on the left arm, a deep, bleeding gash. It looked unnaturally thick, like swollen, and from the color of the blood, it was infected. Elsie felt sick to the core.
Nick pushed away from the window and nearly fell. Elsie grabbed him around the waist.
"You can't go down there!" she protested. "Not in your condition!"
"Have to," he whispered.
Their eyes met, a battle of wills between them, and finally Elsie relented. She could beat Nick any time the shape he was in, but the feverish determination in his eyes burned right through her.
They made it downstairs without falling head over heals, but it was a fight. Nick was determined, but his body was suffering from mirrored pain and cramps, and he was barely coherent. When they were outside, Elsie switched on the perimeter flares and the area lit up. Godzilla was a lump of grayish-green scales on their front step, unmoving, breathing raspy, and his eyes were half-lidded. In the bright lights, Elsie could see the vicious wound that looked like a stab injury to her. The flesh around it was discolored, infected and inflamed, and it was still bleeding.
Godzilla whimpered softly and Nick bit his lower lip. The lizard moved weakly, the talons scratching the concrete, and Elsie flinched. Still, she was with Nick and Godzilla would never hurt him.
Nick stumbled over to the injured limb with her help and touched the rough scales. Godzilla rolled his eye to look at him and snuffled softly.
"Easy," Nick whispered. "I know it hurts."
The claw twitched again, erratically.
"We have to help him," Nick said, as if to himself.
"But how? We don't know what hit him. And he should be able to regenerate, right?"
He shook his head. "This happened two days ago..... he hasn't healed so far and it's still bleeding, Elsie. Something's affecting his healing powers." Nick swallowed twice as if he was trying not to throw up. "We need to take samples... run blood tests... the whole scope."
He leaned heavily against the giant forefoot and Elsie feared he was passing out on her again. Godzilla groaned and Nick gasped loudly.
"I'll take a sample," Elsie now offered, not the least bit thrilled by the prospect. "If you keep him from eating me," she added, meaning it as a joke.
Nick gave her a weak smile. Elsie grimaced.
"I'll get the gear, you stay put."
As if he'd manage to go anywhere without help. Then she darted off into the building again.

*

Nick had spent most of the night out with his charge, wrapped up tightly, refusing to sleep or get back inside. He felt the weak presence of his protégé inside the back of his mind, overshadowed by suffering and pain, as well as confusion. Godzilla didn't understand why he felt so weak, why he couldn't heal, and Nick had no explanation to offer. He simply projected friendship, safety and protection, calming the mutant lizard down when the agony threatened to overwhelm him. Godzilla bled off some of his pain into Nick, which was why he was so affected.
Elsie's first analysis showed their fears were real: Godzilla's G-cells weren't taking care of the problem. Actually, they were not doing a thing. The poison was destroying the muscles and tissue at an alarming rate, spreading through the bloodstream, and there were no natural defenses. Bad. Really, really bad.
Elsie had called the others and Monique had been the first to arrive. Her face was set into a mask and she had silently taken guard outside, keeping an eye on Nick and Godzilla.
"We have to move him away from here," she said into the silence of dawn.
"He can't swim," Nick told her softly, voice flat and lifeless.
"Not far," she added. "There is an old docking station in the refinery that would provide enough cover for us to work undetected and his injury is accessible. Having him lying right in front of the building is far too dangerous." She met his dull eyes. "All he has to do is slide up the ramp of the station as far as he fits. The ramp is going deep underwater and he could lie comfortably, I'm sure."
Nick pondered that. Godzilla would barely fit, but he knew it would be possible. And he would be less exposed and vulnerable. Monique had taken her time exploring the immediate area of the old ferry station and the refinery, which no longer produced anything. A few tanks still held some flammables, but most of it had gone up in smoke throughout the battles taken out here. The docking station had been built to accommodate tankers and it was large enough for Godzilla if he didn't try to stand up.
"Okay," he said after a while. "I'll try to get the concept through to him."

It was hard work and Nick felt how difficult it was for Godzilla to follow the orders, but he finally rested on the concrete ramp, lying on one side, the injured arm stretched out so the wound could be accessed. It showed Nick just how much Godzilla trusted him, how much he understood through the bond, and how much Nick was linked to him. He had tried to project what they wanted him to do, had called out to him, and the combination had worked the trick. Godzilla had projected the pain again, but also his willingness to cooperate.
Now Nick sat against the wall of the docking area, bathed in sweat, panting, trying to establish a shield. Monique was watching Godzilla and him, and finally nodded with satisfaction when she noticed he had accomplished his feat.
"How do you feel?"
"Better than I look," he replied with the shadow of a smile. "Getting better."
"What hit him?"
Nick shook his head. "I don't know. I just got the feedback. Looks like a sting or stab."
She gazed at the silent monster who was just as exhausted as his human adoptive parent. The great nostrils flared widely as Godzilla panted, and now and then he whined softly. He was in pain and unable to move because the poison seeped at his strength. His gaze was fastened on Nick, almost begging, as if the young biologist could magick the pain away.
Mendel and Randy arrived an hour after Monique and both just listened bug-eyed and open-mouthed to what had happened.
"That explains the 'bug' you caught," Craven said slowly.
Nick sighed. "Yeah, the ...bug."
"So we need to give the G-man a little help healing his boo-boo?" Randy asked, an ever-cheerful smile on his face.
"More than just a boo-boo," Elsie contradicted. "From the depths of the wound, it was a stinger the size of the Heatseeker. There are no artificial traces, so it must have been organic."
"Monster attack?"
"Most likely. The substance in his blood and in the wound is similar to a highly acidic poison that reminds me of rattlesnake poison. It keep eating a the muscle and paralyzes the victim."
Mendel shuddered.
"What about an antidote?"
"I wish it would be so easy. We need to find the perp first to get a clean sample of the poison, then we talk antidotes."
"Great," Randy muttered and looked at the half-conscious mutant. "Where do we find the bad guy?"
No one had an answer.
"Shouldn't Godzilla know where he was hit?" Mendel asked into the silence.
Everyone looked at him and he shrank back.
"Just an idea!" he defended himself.
"If I knew how to look into his mind," Nick said weakly, "I'd do it."
Monique suddenly frowned. "You showed the symptoms when it happened to Godzilla as well, non? You must have a memory in your sub-consciousness of what could have attacked and where."
Nick gave her a blank look.
"There are techniques to draw buried memories from a mind," the secret service agent went on. "It might work."
"Hypnosis?" Nick asked.
"In a way. It draws out the events from the memory, but since you experienced them while sleeping, it might be rather laborious to extract them in a coherent, non-dreaming way. If they surface, they will be very real."
His expression turned a shade more doubtful and Monique smiled. "Okay," he finally relented.

*

He was swimming. It was night. The waters were as dark as throughout the day, but when he surfaced, only the cloud-covered stars greeted him. He was far out in the ocean, stretching his muscles, hunting lazily for food.
His hunger sated, he drifted, enjoying the stillness around, only broken by the calls of the other sea creatures around him. His parent slept. The presence his parent represented was even and peaceful, and he left him to rest.
Something suddenly caught his interest and he gazed at the darkness below. There was a deep fissure in the ground and something moved in there. No fish, no other sea creatures, something .....different. He dove toward it, his curiosity peaked. Slow strokes got him closer and his eyes, adjusted to the dark, discovered a large, multi-legged shape. It was organic, from the smell of it, and as he closed in, it turned what had to be its head. Flat, round eyes looked at him, the insectoid body turning slowly. It had a long tail, curled up an resting on his back, which now uncurled. Long stingers gleamed in the dark, like lit up from inside.
He stopped, growling softly. The other creature moved out of the fissure, revealing its flat, eight-legged body and the large pincers it had as forelegs. Mandibles clicked in the silent waters.
He growled again.
And then the thing attacked.
Unprovoked and lightning-fast.

Nick winced and rocked back in the chair, breath quickening. His eyes rolled wildly behind his closed lids and Monique watched as his breath gusted out in an almost familiar matter, then a moan followed.
"You are not there, Nick," she said, voice soft and hypnotic. "You are only watching."
Nick calmed down a bit, but he was still agitated. The others stood behind her, silent but tense as a wire, and Monique knew they were worried. It was almost palpable.

The stinger buried itself in his left foreleg, deep and painful, and he howled. Blood colored the water around him and he lashed out in a frenzy, catching the creature in the side. There was a cracking noise. He followed up on it with a vicious clawing and biting, and one of the pincers was torn off. The most dangerous part was the stinger though, and it hovered too close for comfort.
The creature tore lose from him and the stinger struck his way, but he was faster. His jaws crunched into the armored tail and he felt satisfaction course through him as the stinger was cut in half, hanging uselessly at the creature's tail. It fled into the fissure and he hovered above it, snorting.
As he waited for it to resurface, he felt the pain from the sting wound flare. Sniffing at the injury, he smelled the poison and it hurt his eyes and nose. The pain increased and he turned in a circle, whining softly. After another minute, he decided to leave, to tend to his wound. As inconsiderable as it was, it hurt... a lot!

Nick moaned again, a whimper escaping his lips. He was slipping from watcher to actor again and Monique cursed the mind-link.
"Nick, you are not there. It happened in the past," she told him. "Relax."
Steep lines of shared pain appeared on his forehead and he gripped the sides of the chair.
"Why is he feeling the pain?" Mendel asked, his round face white.
"Because he seems to slip along the link," Monique explained. "It's like a walk on a wire. It's easy to fall off."

He swam around, driven by the pain, his mind swamped by it. He was aware of his parent now awake and questioning, but he couldn't stop the pain. He crawled into his lair, curling up, suffering silently.
Time passed.
Parent.
The thought struck his mind and stuck.
Go to the parent. When hurt or in doubt, go to Nick.
He followed the ingrained behavior pattern and left his lair. Moving had never been so difficult, so painful, and his muddled mind tried to find a reason as to why he didn't heal. Such wounds had never really bothered him before. He swam up the bay and aimed for the ferry building. His movements hurt, everything ached. Thinking was becoming hard and instinct drove him to the docking ramp. He managed to get his body halfway up, then his muscles gave out at last. He collapsed, whining softly, his forearm aflame with pain.
Parent?
Nick?

Nick's eyes snapped open and he inhaled sharply. A tremor went through his body and Monique reach out automatically, squeezing his shoulder.
"You are okay, Nick," she said softly. "It was a memory."
He swallowed and nodded, but he couldn't stop shaking. A memory. A nightmare.
"So some kind of giant crab-legged ant with tentacles attacked him?" Randy asked, thinking about what Nick had told them through the hypnosis.
"Looks like it," Nick muttered, head hanging between his shoulders, elbows resting heavily on his knees. He looked ready to keel over and sleep for a week.
"We have to find the creature," Elsie decided. "Mendel and I will check the sea charts for fissures of that depth, and see what we can come up with."
Craven shrugged. "There will be some."
"We will check them all if necessary," Monique told him coldly.
He shrugged again.
"You should try to rest," the Frenchwoman advised Nick. "You won't get better by forcing yourself to resist your body's needs."
"It's not my body, Monique, and that's the problem," he said softly, raising his head and meeting her eyes.
"I realize that, but your condition might reflect back on Godzilla."
He sighed. "Okay, okay." He staggered to his feet and shuffled to the back room where he had his bed.

*

Monique watched Nick go with a deep, worried frown. What she had gotten from him through the hypnosis and how he had reacted recalling it, confirmed some of her worst fears: the link was intensifying and growing. His current condition alone was evidence enough. They had to cure Godzilla or otherwise, Nick would slowly deteriorate further and further. Not good. As she turned to the others, she met serious and worried faces, all of them aware of the same facts. Maybe not as intimately and what they really meant, but they knew Nick was in trouble.
"We will find that critter," Randy now said, eyes for once without humor or amusement.
"Mendel and I will set to work," Elsie added. "Maybe there's more than just poison in the wound, so we can pinpoint the position. The stinger might have left traces itself."
"You want to poke around in Godzilla's wound?" Craven exclaimed.
Elsie shrugged.
He simply groaned.

*

Nick lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He had a mediocre shield up, but it didn't keep all the negative sensations out. He was too weak to attempt something stronger. Godzilla was curled up in the back of his mind, an injured, vulnerable presence, and Nick kept on projecting safety and warmth. He could do nothing else.
He remembered what had happened throughout the hypnosis session and he remembered what had happened to his protégé now. Something had attacked Godzilla apparently unprovoked, and now they were both suffering from the poison. As long as the mutant lizard couldn't heal, he was in severe pain from such a small wound.
Godzilla projected a shiver of misery and he reached out, projecting stronger.
It's okay. Calm down. Rest.
He quieted down, so confused and so hurt. It hurt Nick on an emotional level as well to see this strong creature so weak, his quick and alert mind a pale shadow of its former self.
And then he remembered something.
Godzilla had called him.
By name.
Nick blinked and sat upright, for a moment ignoring the hammering pain that started anew. Until that thought had struck, he had always been aware of Godzilla calling him 'parent'. Not in the English language. In his own emotional terms, in what he sent out, in what he felt. Nick was 'parent'. But when he had tried to come here, injured and suffering greatly, he had called for Nick.
"Oh... my....." Nick whispered.
Godzilla was intelligent, he learned and he developed, was getting smarter..... but that... he had learned his name?!
Nick swallowed and sought out the presence, carefully touching it. Godzilla didn't rouse much, but he instantly recognized Nick and a ripple of confusion greeted him. Nick calmed him and retreated.
What did it mean? he wondered as he sank back onto the bed. Had it been a one-time experience or something more? Was he developing further because of the link or was it natural? No one could tell just what was hidden inside that thick skull, but Nick suspected it was much more than anyone could tell, even he. The first sudden shock of new development had been after the hormonal imbalance problems Godzilla had had a year ago. His behavior had been erratic, more volatile, but he had quieted down again and his behavior afterwards had changed subtly. And it had continued changing. He was growing smarter with time, had reached an increased intelligence level, and his learning curve was a spiking line up through the roof.
Nick kept on staring at the ceiling, exhaustion creeping up on him.
If this was true, if Godzilla had learned and remembered that, if he could draw these conclusions, what would it mean for the future? When would he reach the next level and start growing from a sentient animal into a person? And would Nick feel it? Would Godzilla communicate on his level or keep on sending empathic images?
He fell asleep throughout his musings.
His dreams were nothing spectacular but they weren't pleasant either.

* * *

He was still in pain, but now he was with his parent, and his parent as trying to help. It was little relief, but even that much was welcome. His parent's friends had come and left again, some coming back to look at the injury again and again. Nick tried to be with him as often as possible. If not physically, then inside his mind. Still, he had noticed how tired his parent was as well.
Godzilla gave a soft sigh, resting against the concrete ramp, muscles a leaden weight. Moving meant pain and so he avoided it. The water was a welcome sensation against his skin, but he would have preferred his lair to hide in to the open ground. His parent couldn't come with him there, though, and neither could the help he needed. Godzilla understood the concept, had started to understand a while ago, and he had learned where the others' limits were. Helping him in his lair would be close to impossible and further hurting his parent.
Nick's presence shifted and Godzilla felt him slip into sleep. He approached and curled up next to him, as close as he could ever come without physically touching him. Right now, all that kept him from crawling back into a place more secure than this was his parent. Nick meant safety.
One of the others came, the other female he didn't know whether to be wary of or try to trust like his parent was. She regarded him for a while, then she was joined by another. The other smelled of nervous fear and Godzilla rumbled to himself. He knew that one as well. He was a helper, but he didn't like his smell. Still, he kept silent and only watched as he approached. The nervous one was carrying something and started to climb up his stretched out foreleg, just like others had done before. His parent had told him to be silent, to lay still, and Godzilla did so. The nervous one was careful as he poked in the inflamed flesh and Godzilla couldn't help but growl as it hurt. The nervous one smelled of fear and more nervousness, but he kept on working. After a while he was done and climbed off in a hurry.
Godzilla snorted and the human jumped, nervousness jumping as well.
The other female stayed a bit longer after the nervous one was gone, her small form telling Godzilla just how dangerous she was, just like the knowledge he had of her from his parent did. His parent had taught him more than ever through the link, especially about the others, and Godzilla had learned to tell them apart.
He slipped off into sleep after some time, the pain receding for a while, but it wasn't gone. And it hadn't gotten better.

* * *

Monique sat with Nick on the roof top in the weak afternoon sun. It wasn't really warm enough to be called a great day, but they needed to be somewhere alone and remotely quiet. The lab was infested by scientists and Nick's room was not an option either because it was too cramped, so the roof had been the only alternative.
The pain seeping through Nick's shields needed to be siphoned and then cleaned out of his mind completely. Only if Nick could be called stable, could Godzilla also find a bit of relief. Monique knew enough about those two already to know that their conditions reflected back on the other. Since Godzilla didn't know a thing about shields and couldn't be taught, Nick had to do it for him. It was laborious and draining, and it had had backlashes now and then, but it helped both parties. Nick the most. Tuning out bouts of anger or attack happiness was vital for his sanity.
Pain had hit as well before, but mostly as brief stings, never this severe. It had been the reason why Monique, or Nick, hadn't caught on to it sooner. Their main drawback was that they could only really seriously train a shield when Nick was actually suffering from an invasion of his mind. Now he was right in the middle of such an attack.
"Collect your shield, Nick," she now instructed. "You have to remember the routines, then work around the pain. It's not your pain. You don't feel it. It's more of a hallucination. No pain....."
Nick breathed regularly, eyes closed, sitting cross-legged on the roof. Lines of pain marred his face and he was laboring to follow her instructions.
"Don't force it, Nick. It will come naturally, as it always does."
"Not as easily and naturally," he whispered, voice strained.
Monique watched him struggle, aware that it was truly much more difficult for him to tune out the pain, mainly because he had been tuned in for two days in a row already.
"It's not your pain. Go into your body and mind. You feel no pain. It's not yours."
The minutes dragged on and she talked him through the normally so successful and easily accomplished exercises, but Nick was improving. He was getting a hang of how to get past his own perception and battle the incoming empathic waves. She could almost see how it eased his own suffering. The lines smoothed out and Nick finally let out a little sigh.
"Better," he mumbled, sounding exhausted.
"Can you maintain it?"
Nick gave her one of his wry, humorless smiled. "Ask me in an hour."
Monique gave him her own smile. "Could you get the shield up on short notice?"
"I don't think so. It needs work. Like all the others, it's not like I'm doing it on a regular basis... thank god."
She nodded. "I understand. It will give you a break at least."
Nick rubbed his forehead. "Yeah. Good thing, for now." He climbed to his feet and Monique did the same. "We should check on the others."
And Godzilla, was the unspoken addition.
They walked back inside.

* * *

"Dr. Tatopoulos is mirroring the mutant's injuries and I believe no shielding can ever safe him from experiencing those attacks. But I also believe that the current seriousness of the situation is mainly due to the absent healing powers of the beast." Monique looked down at the waters below, lapping up against the outside ramp. "The poison and the attacker have yet to be identified."
There was silence on the other side of the secure connection. Monique didn't like silences, especially when she could read the unspoken words from the invisible lips. Her phone partner was Philippe Roche, her superior and the only one she answered to for her missions, and she knew him well enough to hear those words. He didn't like the implications of what their current situation meant. Not because of the unknown attacker or the unknown poison. The poison might even be classified a weapon against Godzilla. No, he was more thinking about what a seriously injured or maybe even dead Godzilla meant for the human attached to him through an empathic link.
Nick and Philippe were friends, and Monique honestly believed that Philippe considered the young scientist more than just an ally or acquaintance. He had stuck out his neck for him too often for that in the past. Now Monique was telling him that if Godzilla died, it would either destroy or severely hurt Nick as well. Not good. Not good at all.
Philippe had been close to calling off the 'experiment' he called their little team before, but he had come around. As much as he wanted to see the good and trust in Nick's judgment of his adopted child, he also was a realist. He couldn't fall into the trap of trusting his heart; he had to trust hard facts.
Monique had learned to do both. She still followed her training, but nearly two years with the little team had taught her a lot about gut-feeling and trusting her heart, especially when it came to Nick. He was a special person and he knew what he was talking about when Godzilla was concerned.
"Your evaluation?"
"I can't tell for sure since Drs. Craven and Chapman are still working on identifying the poison, but if we don't find an antidote, I believe Godzilla will die."
Another silence. She began to hate them.
"Can we rule out a person behind the attack?"
Good question. "No, not really. The attacking monster might be controlled by someone else, but we don't know that." It had happened before, it could happen again.
"Bon." Philippe dragged out another silence after that. "Keep me informed."
"Of course."
With that, the conversation was finished. Monique stowed her cell phone away and walked to the edge of the roof, hair whipping in the wind. They had to find a cure. For one, Godzilla was their best and sometimes only defense against other monsters. For another, Nick's sanity and maybe his life depended on it. And this second reason was even more important to her.

* * *

"Here's the topo maps of the most likely attack area, along with all weather info," Elsi explained, laying out a pile of charts onto the table.
Randy flipped through them, scanning. "You think this is it?"
"Well, we have Godzilla's usual travel routes from Nick's extensive records and Nigel's tracking him. We know the attack was somewhere in warmer waters because of what Nick felt. I narrowed it all down and this is where we have to look."
"What's this?" Randy asked, pointing to a series of tight lines on the topo map. "Um, it looks like a crater. Deep sea fissure. Not many in the gulf, maybe two or three," Mendel said, pulling out a reference book to confirm.
"What caused them?"
"Plate movement. They've been opening at the rate of, um, one point three inches a year," Mendel read aloud, showing them the statistics. "According to this, this fissure is approx. 43' across 127' feet long and depth undetermined."
"You could hide a whole lot of monster in a hole like that," Randy chuckled.
"Monsters, always monster," Mendel sighed.
Randy clapped him on the back. "Yep, and they're all waiting for you," he teased. Mendel snorted and slapped Randy's hand away, leaving the hacker grinning.
"Let's go," Monique spoke up, face cold and determined, walking up to the boat affectionately named Heatseeker. The spiky tooth grin Randy had painted on its prow did nothing to improve the ships image. Monique sighed to herself. How could such a brilliant young man be so juvenile at the same time?
They left thirty minutes later.

* * *

Nick was not getting any better, but at least he was not worsening either. If he didn't lay down on the couch and seemed to either sleep or doze, he sat with Godzilla. Randy, Mendel and Monique were out with the Heatseeker following trails and leads. Elsie had volunteered to stay with Nick. She knew she couldn't do much, except try out ideas or spurts of what might be a solution on the poison, as well as experiment with painkillers of anti-inflammatories for the wound. The baking soda she had dumped on the infected flesh had helped, mainly because it had cleared Nick's head from the constant, drumming pain as well, but it wouldn't last. Godzilla had roused a bit and was always watching her curiously when she worked on him. He didn't attack and he didn't threaten her, but she knew he was ready to push her away if she did the wrong thing.
"Only taking another sample," she cooed as Godzilla snuffled softly.
"He's just trying to understand," Nick said, leaning against the giant lizard like a tiny ant against a mountain.
"Hope he understands I'm helping."
"He does," he answered seriously.
Elsie looked at him, smiling briefly. Then she closed the jar with her sample and hurried climbed off the armored forefoot. The scales felt cool and rough to the touch, but the open wound radiated heat and it had not started to heal at all.
Godzilla gave a whine and Nick smiled at him.
"We'll make you okay again," he promised, voice as pale as his skin.
Elsie prayed they could. If Nick was suffering like this from such a small wound, what would happen if something more serious... or permanent... happened? She didn't really want to think about it.
Nick followed her inside, plopping down on the couch, and Elsie set her equipment on the sample again. It would work for a while before the results were ready, so she decided to join Nick.
"Need anything?" she wanted to know.
"An antidote," he replied with a wry smile.
She gave him a sad look. "Can't help you with that, but if you want a coffee or tea....."
Nick shook his head. "No, thanks." He leaned back his head and closed his eyes.
They sat silently together, Elsie trying to be a support for him, even though she hardly knew what to do. Nick nodded off after a while and she drew a blanket over his body, smiling softly. It as the best he could do right now. Sleep.
She walked back to her work place and concentrated on trying to extract the information they needed.

* * *

The Heatseeker sat silently in the ocean, buoyed by the waves. Randy Hernandez hunched over his computers, watching the display screen for any sign of what the program should tell him. The computer was directly connected to Nigel, their remote controlled robot, which was currently scouting the depths of the ocean for the creature that had attacked and poisoned Godzilla. Humans couldn't go the depths the thing resided in and Nigel was the next best thing to a scout.
"Nothing," Mendel Craven sighed. "This is chasm number what? Fifteen?"
"Twenty-two," Monique said crisply. "And we will move to twenty-three now."
It was almost monotonous, mind-numbing, but equally frustrating. They had searched for almost a day now, driving at high speed from coordinates to coordinates, refueling in a small port, then heading out again. Craven had lost track of where exactly they were, just that they were ordering Nigel into a new deep sea crevice again. His eyes seemed to be dried out and screen data was permanently etched into his iris.
But they had to continue. This was vital. For Nick. It was for Godzilla and Nick's survival. They had to find the creature that had attacked the lizard!
Mendel sighed and rubbed his itching eyes. The Heatseeker swung around and he heard the engines roar beneath them, the metal resounding with the volume. Monique deftly steered the ship through the waves and Nigel followed them.
Randy plopped down next to him, his usual cheerfulness long gone to be replaced by serious determination. Nick was a close friend, someone who had stuck his neck out for him in the past, and even though Randy liked to joke and tease, he was also a highly serious man when needed.
"We'll find that thing," he now vowed.
Mendel nodded. Yeah, they would, but when? Godzilla was weakening, maybe even dying already, and they were no closer to retrieving a venom sample than eighteen hours ago. He yawned. He felt tired enough to sleep for a day. That was a luxury for later. Right now, he had work to do.
Craven went back to his work station and entered some data into Nigel, then called up the log of his latest scouting mission, just to dismiss it into one of the many files he could dissect later.
The Heatseeker went on at top speed toward their next target.

* * *

He dreamed. He did so often, sometimes pleasant dreams, sometimes about fights with shadowy opponents, but never nightmares. He didn't know nightmares.
Now he knew. They were dark abysses of pain he had never known before, desperation, helplessness...... futile movements in a swamp of an oily substance. He tried to get out, but he failed, getting pulled under.
Godzilla whined softly, calling for Nick, but he knew his parent was unable to help him. His parent was suffering as well and currently his parent's friends were trying to find a help.
He moved weakly toward the presence of his parent in his mind. A faint ripple answered him and he whined again. Nick tried to project some comforting emotions, but he was too exhausted to do anything but be there. Godzilla snuffled softly and curled up closer. It was enough for him. He couldn't ask for more because there was nothing more to give.

* * *

The green Army jeep stopped in front of the old ferry building, the engine pinging softly in the silence around it. Waves lapped gently at the boat ramp not far away and sea gulls circled over the abandoned appearing building. Not far away, the old refinery rose into the afternoon sky. Not an unusual scenery, one he had seen countless times, though the stillness of it all was a bit surprising, the driver thought. Normally, people would either be in or around the building, or the noise of something or other being repaired inside filtered through. None of that now.
Major Hicks grabbed his cap and got out of the jeep, for once not coming with a whole entourage of soldiers. His visit was rather unofficial, though he was as always in uniform, and no back-up was needed. As if back-up would really help. Neither Nick nor his friends were really impressed by military force and the biologist could stand his own against whatever came his way from Hicks' side. Hicks had had to accept that early in their cooperation and he had been shown just how much backbone the 'worm guy', had. Nick's appearance was deceptive, a typical lab rat, though without the white coat -- that was Mendel Craven's preferred garment. But behind the sometimes pale and slender exterior hid a fighter with a lot of guts and determination. Hicks smiled at the recollections of prior encounters.
Now the major walked around his car and toward the entrance of the ferry building. No one came out to greet him and he knew that the car hadn't been actually silent. Even if they were in the hangar bay, they'd have heard him. As he closed the unlocked door behind him and gazed around the interior of the first floor, he heard foot steps. Someone was descending the stairs from above.
"Dr. Chapman," he greeted the red-haired woman as he recognized her.
Elsie Chapman looked surprised but not startled, and for a moment Hicks thought she was rather unhappy to see him. Not that any of the H.E.A.T. team ever was overly happy when the military showed up, but they had a friendship going among them.
"Major Hicks... what a surprise. Is something wrong?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary. No monsters so far." He smiled and she mirrored it, though with less humor. "I'm here because we had several calls in the last days about your pet monster."
Her face scrunched up in a frown. "What now? He hasn't been terrorizing anyone."
There was something else. Worry. Hicks could tell, even though Elsie tried to hide it.
"We had two calls from the guards over at the refinery that he was seen there, though no property damage was reported. Looks like there was some activity around the outer warehouses."
Her face went into neutral. "No damage, no monster, so why the visit?"
"Because I'd like to know what you people are up to."
"Nothing, Major." Her voice was dismissive.
"Doctor..... please! I'm not here to arrest you. You might recall, I'm on your side. What's going on?" No answer. "Maybe I could talk to Dr. Tatopoulos?"
"He's not feeling very well at the moment," Elsie answered guardedly. "He's laying down."
Hicks felt suspicion flare again. It had happened in the past months several times because of something or other, because of a remark, a gesture, a look..... and it had to do with Godzilla. Who else? Everything around here revolved around the mutant, but lately even more than usual.
"Major Hicks?"
The faint voice made him look up and Hicks blinked as he saw Nick Tatopoulos atop the stairs. The man looked definitely wasted. Pale, rings under his eyes, cheeks holding a hollow look, eyes almost feverish.
"Nick!" Elsie exclaimed. "What are you doing out of bed?"
"I heard voices," he answered and took two more steps down. Very unsteady steps, as Hicks noted.
"What's going on here?" he now asked calmly.
"As I said, Nick is not feeling well!" Elsie snapped.
"I can see that."
She reached his side and pulled him back up the stairs. Hicks simply followed. In the lab, Nick sat down heavily on the old, battered couch. Up close, he looked even worse and he seemed to be favoring one hand. Nick blinked and looked fuzzily at him. Even if he had a bad case of the flu or a vicious cold, Hicks didn't think a person could look so wasted from that, though he had seen severe cases already.
Now he met the feverishly dull blue eyes and something inside Hicks screamed an alarm. Why, he didn't know.
"What happened, Doc?" he asked evenly.
Nick's eyes took on a stubborn expression and Elsie placed herself protectively between them.
"He's sick, Major. That's all. He needs rest."
"That's all, hm? How come I don't believe you people?"
"Maybe because the military is always paranoid and it rubs off on the officers?" Chapman taunted.
He smiled humorlessly. "Or maybe because something's going on here that you don't want me to know. I am on your side, Nick," he addressed the biologist. "I thought I had proven this several times already."
"This isn't about whose side you are on, Major," Nick answered, voice relaying his exhaustion.
"Then what?"
Nick sighed softly and shook his head, weariness in every move. Suddenly he flinched and screwed his eyes shut, breathing becoming a panting. Elsie had her attention on his completely in a second.
"Nick?" she asked softly.
"'S okay," he managed, sounding strained. "Just an echo."
"Echo of what?" Hicks asked, alert eyes taking in every little detail, especially how Nick seemed to curl around his left hand -- as if he was hurting. But there was no visible injury.
The younger man looked up, a soul-deep pain in his eyes that startled the soldier. "Nothing you can help with."
"How do you know? Nick, please! I will find out sooner or later, and I'd hate to bring the whole squad to convince you." He raised an eyebrow.
Elsie glared at him, but Hicks wasn't fazed. He had faced worse.
"Why are you here, Major?" Nick now asked.
Hicks blinked, surprised by the softly-voiced question. "Because we received several calls about monster sightings around here, namely Godzilla. People should be used to it, but it seems that the guards at the old refinery were a bit spooked." His eyes narrowed. "So.... is your pet lizard making a new nest there or what else is going on? I also note the absence of the rest of you merry little band, Doctor."
"They have taken the Heatseeker on a scientific research mission," Elsie answered crisply.
"Research, isn't that so?" Hicks met her renewed glare evenly. Then he looked at Nick once more. "So, what are you hiding in the refinery?"
It was a shot into the dark, but he knew he had hit something.
"Major...." Elsie warned him.
He didn't heed it. Hicks gazed into the traumatized appearing blue eyes of Nick Tatopoulos, asking for an answer, trying to tell him silently that whatever was going on, he wouldn't bring a whole squad down on him.
"Nick, don't even think about it!" Elsie now said, looking at him as well.
"Major Hicks is right, Elsie. He is a friend. And if Monique and the others can retrieve the venom and find an antidote, we might need his help administering it."
Hicks was slightly lost. "What? What venom? What antidote?"
"Nick, no! You'd spill everything!"
Nick was silent for a moment. "No. I just want to show him the truth."
Hicks was slowly losing his patience. "Doctors......"
Both looked up, Nick managing one of his annoying smiles. "Got a car?" he asked casually.
"Sure. Why?"
"Because we need to take a little trip."

* * *

The water was dark and murky, as if someone had poured ink into it. The light of the small submarine was barely penetrating the darkness and that didn't really help at all. Especially with the nervousness Randy felt. Okay, so he had more or less gotten over his claustrophobia, but it didn't mean he had to like it. There was this nagging feeling that he was totally helpless down here, unable to save himself if the hull broke or the windows cracked. There was only the water all around him, the high pressure that would turn him into a pancake if he went out unprotected.
Shaking those thoughts, the young man concentrated on the controls, the sub sinking deeper and deeper into the ocean, following Nigel. The little robot had discovered a strong trace of radiation and water analysis had shown that something was down there, something bleeding. Or at least injured. Craven had run the tests again and again to make sure, and all had shown the same: there was a mutation down there, its radioactively changed blood leaking into the sea. So now they were going down there to take a peek.
Nigel was ahead of them, about two kilometers to be exact, and was sending back data. Mendel was busy steering his creation through the rocky outcroppings of the underwater mountainscape, slowly closing in on where the mutation had to be. Craven had stayed aboard the Heatseeker for that task, but also because someone had to remain behind and man the controls in case something unforeseen happened. With mutants and all, Randy knew that was not such an unlikely prospect. Somehow, it always happened. And always, Godzilla would save them. Not this time, though, Randy thought darkly. They were here because Godzilla needed saving, needed their help, and he hoped they could retrieve what they had set out to find.
"Closing in," Mendel's voice crackled over the intercom unit and tore him out of his reverie. "Camera feed is coming in clear."
A monitor came to life and Randy studied the dark, shadowy picture. That was clear? Huh, that was a matter of some interpretation. Suddenly Nigel switched on his high-powered flares and the light bounced off rocky outcroppings and seemed to be swallowed by dark abysses.
"Nice neighborhood," he remarked.
Monique didn't comment. Her eyes were on the controls, just briefly glancing at the picture.
"Got something!" Mendel seemed to burst with excitement. "It's four hundred meters into the cavern. Sending Nigel in."
The picture shifted, the rocky landscape giving way to uneven ground, clustered with strange weed and crusted rocks. Animals scattered before Nigel and Randy grimaced as some of them came clear into view. Not very appealing. Then the lights danced over a dark, definitely not rock-like surface.
"Whoa!" Randy exclaimed as the camera caught the face of the thing, an ant-like head with round, flat eyes, mandibles and antennae.
"We found it," Monique simply said.
"Uh, yeah."
Nigel carefully inched closer, swimming around the monster, transmitting his findings. Randy saw the numerous legs, all armored like the body, the pincers, and the tail..... which had been bitten half through. The stinger was hanging uselessly to one side and there were scratch marks around the base of the tail.
"Looks like Godzilla got back at him for the sting."
Monique's brow had formed a steep 'v' as she studied the picture. The creature hadn't moved and the injuries were quite severe.
"Is it dead?" she asked, addressing Mendel.
"Uh, well, I can't be sure. But there is nothing coming in over the scanners."
The frown stayed. "It might have died a while ago."
"Possible," Mendel agreed.
"Can the venom still be extracted?"
There was a short silence. "Only if the venom sacks haven't been torn out or have started to decay already," Craven finally answered tentatively.
Randy felt his stomach clench. Not good....
"Only one way to find out," Monique decided. "Send in Nigel to take samples. The get ready to tag and bag it."
"You want to take it home?" Randy asked, slightly perplexed. "Need some new rubber ducky in the tub?"
She didn't fall for the teasing. "We don't know where it came from or if there are more of its kind. Studying the remains might answer a few questions. Now get going!"
"You should get out more Monique, have some fun," Mendel muttered.
"I was not assigned here to have fun."
Mendel sighed. "That much is obvious Monique, but it sure as heck couldn't hurt," he said, playing with Nigel's controls.
Monique only frowned.
Civilians. The greatest curse any soldier could deal with was working with civilians.

* * *

Hicks didn't know what he had expected, but not that. Definitely not that. Godzilla lay stretched out on the long ramp leading into the building, his lower body in the water. His head rested on the concrete floor, the eyes half open but barely conscious, and the left forearm was stretched out across the hangar bay. A deep, ugly swollen and blood-crusted gash was on the left wrist. The lizard's breathing was raspy, too shallow if he was any judge, and it sounded painful. Nick leaned against some instrument collection that had to be a work station, probably Craven's, looking even more pale, if that was possible.
"What happened to him?"
"Attack by an unknown creature. Monique, Randy and Mendel are out searching for whatever hit him."
"I thought he has healing powers," Hicks remarked, still mesmerized by the sight. He rarely got too close to the monster and this was the closest he had ever gone, and the longest time.
"Usually, yes. His G-cells seem to be affected by the venom," Elsie said.
"G-cells?"
"His regenerative cells. The ones that were altered through the radioactivity and are responsible for his sped-up healing," she explained. "I ran a test on a sample and they are actually quite amazing little creations. Even when a G-cell is injured or almost destroyed, it can heal itself and immediately goes out to regenerate damaged tissue. Now those cells aren't working and we have no idea why. Could be the venom."
"Mutant attack?" Hicks asked.
"Some kind of insectoid sea creature. We need the pure venom to start with an antidote."
Godzilla suddenly made a soft, snuffling sound and Nick walked unsteadily toward him. "Hey, big guy."
Hicks watched him, as always amazed by the sheer size difference and the strange friendship between those two. Godzilla rolled an eye behind the half-closed lid, whining.
"I know it hurts.... I know," Nick soothed and touched the outstretched claws. "We are trying to help." There was an almost faraway expression in his eyes.
Hicks turned to Elsie. "So that answers the question of why Godzilla was suddenly in the vicinity and why we got the calls. It doesn't answer just what the heck is going on with Dr. Tatopoulos."
"He is sick," Elsie answered, voice level. "He happened to catch a nasty bug and it was at the most inconvenient time."
He wasn't convinced, but the major also knew there was no more information forthcoming. Okay, he knew when to give up and try again. This was the time. Hicks looked at where Nick was softly talking to Godzilla, fingers caressing the hard armor. He doubted the lizard could feel it, but somehow he was convinced that he heard Nick.....
"Now if you'd excuse us," the paleontologist went on, "there's work to do!"
She walked past him and Hicks smiled briefly. Then his features went into neutral and his eyes remained on Nick. Something was going on, something neither of the team had told him.
And he would get behind it.

* * *

"That was the most disgusting thing I've ever done in my life!" Mendel shuddered theatrically.
Randy grinned. "Hey, I bet doing the laundry, especially your laundry, can be even worse."
That earned him a glare.
Monique silently walked ahead of the two bickering men, a container the size of a fire extinguisher in her hands. It was heavy, but she wouldn't ask for help or complain. The contents of this container might prove to be the lifesaver for Nick Tatopoulos -- and Godzilla.
"Poking around in some dead mutant's gut," Mendel went on, shivering. "This goes beyond disgusting."
"Oh, it wasn't so bad."
"You weren't the one who had to guide Nigel through the extraction procedure!"
"If it had been me, he wouldn't have botched the first attempt."
"Botched?"
Monique tuned out the bickering and looked around the silent warehouse. The door to the hangar bay opened and Elsie entered, smiling at them, though it was a forced smile. Monique's silent question as to Nick's condition was answered by her expression. He wasn't doing so well.
"Hicks was here," the red-headed scientist said softly when Monique sat down the container. In the background, the two men were still tearing verbally into each other.
"What did he want?" she now asked, voice cold and controlled.
"He asked questions I didn't like. He left about an hour ago, but I think he'll be back. Monique, he suspects something."
She looked at Elsie. "Or you interpret his actions this way. Maybe he is hoping to get a reaction from you that proves his theory."
Elsie sighed. "Maybe. So, you got the venom?"
She nodded. "It wasn't easy, but we retrieved as much as possible."
"Not easy?" Mendel piped. "It was hell, Elsie. Crawling around some creature's gut and cutting it apart...." He looked a bit green around the gills. "It was sickening."
Elsie smiled. "But you pulled it through. I'm proud of you, Mendel."
He preened. "Yeah, well......"
"Don't make his head swell too much," Randy joked. "The mess that would leave is even worse than insect guts."
Mendel glared at him.
"How's Godzilla?" Randy then asked, his voice suddenly serious and worried.
"Holding on. Heart rate has stabilized for now, but it's critical. His breathing is troublesome. And I think he's either catching pneumonia or the bug congests his lungs as well."
"Bad," Randy said softly.
"Very. Nick has managed to uphold the basic shield, but it tears at him. He's not doing well either."
Mendel and Randy exchanged deeply worried looks.
"Come on," Elsie grabbed Mendel's arm and pulled him over to the lab section. "Let's get to work, Dr. Craven. We have quite some of it ahead of us."
Both scientists disappeared in the lab with the container of poison. Monique remained behind with Randy, then silently turned and left the lab.

* * *

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"
Major Tony Hicks looked at the younger man, a scowl in his eyes. "I thought the answer to a superior officer's order would be a 'yes, sir', Lieutenant."
A humorless smile answered him. "You were the one who made sure I have no superiors.... Sir."
Hicks returned the smile. "Except me. And yes, it is a good idea. They need a watchdog, one that isn't affiliated with the French Secret Service."
The lieutenant laughed softly. "A watchdog. I think I'll be the one who will be watched, Major."
"Suffer it, O'Neal. With these reports coming in, and the current state of Godzilla, my suspicions are high on a connection between Trinity and this incident. The lizard has encountered countless enemies with different powers, but only the man-made weapons have been able to put him down for a while."
O'Neal frowned and looked at the manila folder labeled 'Eyes Only'. "You never talked with Nick about Trinity?"
"No. For now, the group is a rogue factor not to be taken too seriously, lest they gain more power through it. If they are connected to the attack, then we deal with them." Hicks gave him a penetrating look. "Trinity is still Eyes Only, Lieutenant, is that clear? You are not to mention them!"
"I know what Eyes Only means, Sir," O'Neal said flatly.
"Good."

* * *

Monique found Nick where she had expected him: at the warehouse with Godzilla. He looked frail, as if he had lost twenty kilos in the last three days. But there was a fire in his eyes Monique knew only too well. Determination and fierce protection.
"How did it go?" he asked, voice soft.
"We have the venom. Doctors Craven and Chapman are working on generating an antidote." Monique settled down beside him.
Godzilla lay just a few feet away, a mountain of scales, weak as a kitten and dying. His breathing was raspy, sounding even worse than before. His eyes were closed and the injured wrist was swollen to twice it size. The poisoned flesh was discolored.
"Shields?" she asked casually.
"Holding." Nick leaned his head against the wall, inhaling shakily. "But I don't know for how much longer. It's getting harder and harder."
He was about to continue when a dizzying sensation washed through him, making him grip the table. It was as if had stood to quickly and the blood had rushed from his head. The problem was, he was still sitting.
"Nick, Nick!" The voice broke through his confused stupor and he blinked fuzzily at a concerned Monique. "You have to hold on to the shields, Nick. If they crumble, so will your mind." Monique held the desperate, blue eyes. "They are the only thing that stand between you and insanity."
Another sigh. "I know, Monique. I know only too well." He gazed at his silent charge. "I hate to see him this way. Feeling it as well is just.... It drags you down with him."
Monique placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. "You have to continue the fight, Nick. For his sake as well as yours. You are his stability right now."
Her knowing eyes bore into his. Nick nodded slowly.
"And you need to eat," she went on, smiling at his startled expression. "Let's grab something before Randy raids the fridge."
Nick chuckled. "Good idea."
They had just entered the kitchen and Monique had started out on something edible, when Randy burst in.
"Yo, Effe! Someone's at the door who wants to talk to you. Military. Don't know the guy, but he says he knows you."
Nick blinked. "Coming," he then said and followed Randy downstairs.
Monique closed the microwave door, but didn't switch the oven on, and followed.

*

"Sergeant O'Neal?"
"It's Lieutenant O'Neal, actually," Jeff O'Neal chuckled and shook the outstretched hand. "Hello, Doc."
Nick gazed at him in open surprise. O'Neal was of a muscular build, with dark blond hair and bright blue eyes. He was handsome in an off-beat way, the slightly square features mixing into a kind of pleasant, harmless way of appearance. He was dressed in jeans and a leather jacket, andseemed to be in his late twenties or early thirties. O'Neal gave his surroundings a closer inspection.
"Lieutenant, huh? Quite a career jump," Nick commented.
"Well, the whole mess about two years back helped to boost it a bit," the other man confessed with a smirk. "So, I heard you got yourself a new pet?"
Nick grimaced. "Pet? Not really, no." He wasn't inclined to actually talk about it any more. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, I'm here on more or less official business, Nick. Major Hicks ordered me here."
That sent a shiver of alarm through Nick. Hicks? The major had been here, had seen Godzilla, had seen Nick's condition, and now there was O'Neal. A friend from the past, someone who had pulled his butt out of the frying pan, had helped defeat the first Godzilla. Why now? Just a coincidence or something planned?
Monique appeared at his side like out of nowhere and he was thankful for her presence. "Why?" Her voice was almost flat.
Jeff O'Neal looked her over, eyes narrowing. There was something there, something Nick hadn't seen in those blue depths back in the past throughout their first meeting. Jeff hadn't simply turned Lieutenant, he had grown as well.
"Because of what you are keeping in that warehouse," he answered. "He thinks you might need a little help."
"He's wrong," the secret service agent shot back.
"Well, sorry to say it, but you are stuck with me. Orders. I'm not about to disobey them."
Before Monique could say something, Nick raised is hand. "It's okay, Monique. Really. Welcome to H.E.A.T., Lieutenant O'Neal."
He shook the outstretched hand and regarded Nick with solemn eyes. "Excuse the bluntness, but you look like hell."
The biologist sighed. Oh, goody.....
"Cold," Monique said levelly. "Nasty bug, as you Americans say."
O'Neal didn't answer that, but he didn't look convinced.
They walked inside, Nick really having to concentrate on where he was setting his feet. The projections from Godzilla were rising again and he was having trouble staying in this reality. Monique kept close, an invisible stability to his mind, and he couldn't put his thankfulness into words.
O'Neal gazed at the lizard with obvious awe. "So he was poisoned?"
The question snapped Nick back to reality and he nearly groaned. Catching himself, he nodded. "Monique, Randy and Mendel managed to extract some poison from the creature that is responsible for the attack and we have to generate an antivenom from it."
O'Neal looked around and nodded slowly. "I'll stay out your way, Nick, but I'm here in official capacity. Major Hicks made that clear to me and he is my superior."
"I understand." The drumming behind his eyes started anew and the vicious headache following threatened to blank out his whole rational mind.
"May I invite you to a coffee?" Monique suddenly said, grabbing the lieutenant's arm and pulling him over to the coffee machine.
"Uh, sure," O'Neal managed, clearly surprised by the offer.
Nick sighed in relief and staggered over to his bedroom, slumping on the bed. Godzilla was a barely coherent presence with him and he just wrapped himself around his charge, soothing him.

* * *

The night passed too fast for Elsie Chapman and though she had barely slept for more than three hours, she was too wound up to feel tired. Exhausted to a degree, maybe, but not enough to drop in her bed and sleep. She couldn't sleep. Not now. O'Neal's arrival hd spooked her as much as everyone and she wished she could lighten up around him. It was impossible though.
Mendel had nodded off at his computer around four am and she smiled as she paced past him. The computer was still ticking, running tests, running experiments, doing its work. Elsie checked on what the array of lab equipment and testers told her by the hour, cursing each unwanted result. They were splicing the poison sample, tried to find an antidote, mixed it with blood samples taken from Godzilla, and generally hoped to find something soon. Whenever the computer came up with a new idea of a working potion, she tried it out -- and had to scratch if off the list of possible cures.
The mutated lizard was not getting better. Throughout the night he had had several episodes of cardiac problems when the heart had beaten irregularly, increasing breathing difficulty and decreasing brain activity. Nick had slept restlessly, rising frequently, looking worse every time. He had gone back to bed around five am, after standing and watching Godzilla for more than an hour, lost in his own world.
Elsie shivered as she thought what might happen to him if Godzilla didn't make it. Would the bond snap before death? Would he feel Godzilla die? Would the bond draw him with the dying lizard?
The early morning brought a diffuse light to the lab as the sun broke hesitantly over the horizon. Everything was shrouded in the mist that boiled over the water and the sun turned it into a surreal world bridging the night and day. Soon the foggy air would clear and the sun would rise.
Elsie rubbed the back of her neck, feeling cramped muscles spasm. A groan let her turn and she smiled as Mendel woke from his sleeping position -- head on the desk -- and cracked his eyes open.
"Morning, sleeping beauty," she greeted him.
He rubbed his neck as well, possibly having even worse cramps. "Morning," he mumbled. He looked at the still working computer, then at Elsie. "Anything?"
She shook her head. "Not yet. Still experimenting. Coffee?"
Mendel nodded, smothering a yawn. As Elsie walked over to the coffee machine, the scientist rose and stretched.
"Any word from Nick?"
"Not getting better. Just like Godzilla." Elsie inhaled deeply. "He's gotten worse. A lot. Heart and lung are infected now. He's got trouble breathing and I had several heart skips throughout the night. Randy was over there, watching."
Mendel looked stricken.
"If he dies...." Elsie whispered, hands clenching around a coffee mug.
"He won't!" Craven insisted forcefully, walking over to her. One hand touched her shoulder carefully. "Neither of them will! Because we will find a cure, Elsie!"
She smiled bravely at his convinced tone. There had been a time when she had thought she and Mendel Craven might be more than just colleagues and friends. Today she realized that she had gone that way because she had believed Nick unreachable for her. Because he had Audrey and wouldn't simply end that relationship. Mendel had been very serious about the crush, but when it had ended, he had also understood. Yes, there had been hurt feelings, but that was over. He was a supportive friend for her. Someone who would fight for Nick to live.
"Thanks," she whispered.
"Hey, no problem." Mendel took the coffee and looked at the computer. "I better get back to kicking that thing before Randy gets his hands it."
Elsie smiled. Mendel flexed his shoulders, rolling them, then sat back down and typed in several commands. She walked over to the window and gazed outside, coffee cup in hand.
"I'll check on Nick," she said almost to herself.
"No problem," the robotics expert answered distractedly.
She left him to his work and went out into the crisp morning air.

The news from the warehouse front were not helping to lift her spirits. Godzilla had finally developed a severe case of pneumonia, his breathing now interrupted by weak hacking noises and bubbling sounds from deep inside his chest.
"How can he catch pneumonia?" Randy asked, bewildered.
Elsie looked at the large lizard. "I can't really say for lizards or mutation like Godzilla, but in humans, the microorganisms that cause pneumonia are always present in the upper respiratory tract. They're harmless unless resistance is severely lowered by some other factor. Godzilla's immune system is already fighting other infections, so that would account for it. Pneumonia can set in fairly quickly in those conditions."
Randy cursed softly. "So what now?"
"If he were human, I'd say antibiotics, but how to get such an amount?"
The younger man looked at her. "Ask the military?"
She smiled humorlessly. "As if we could expect help from them. Hicks is barely keeping our back free from gun-toting, sharp-shooting maniacs in F-15s. I don't think he can organize such an amount of antibiotics that it would make a difference."
Randy shrugged. "Can't hurt to ask."

* * *

Midday had passed with a meager success on the antivenom front. Nick was living from hour to hour, forcing himself not to slip into Godzilla's weakening mind, trying to follow a more or less planned schedule. Eating was a task and coffee had lost its power to keep him awake.
"You got yourself quite some reputation, Nick." Jeff O'Neal sipped at his coffee, looking around the warehouse.
He had arrived in the early morning hours. Nick didn't know where exactly he slept, but he knew from a talk to Hicks that O'Neal was supposed to be stationed at the warehouse, beginning from now. There was enough room, but the team had yet to be informed.
The discussion with Hicks had been long and Nick knew he had been rather unkind here or there, snapping more than once, and Hicks had listened to it with acquired patience.
"Lieutenant O'Neal is your safety rope, Nick," he had explained. "I can't bail you out every time. You and your team came close to getting between the lines several times, and when you run into the army somewhere I'm not present, they tend to shoot at your pet lizard. O'Neal has the necessary power to stop them."
"He's only a lieutenant, Major."
To that, Hicks had suddenly smiled, and it had been a smile Nick hadn't liked all that much. It hid something, it kept a secret, and he didn't like that either. "In rank, yes, but not when it comes to his position. Trust me if I tell you, O'Neal is, aside from me, the best you can have for protection from the army."
Nick had simply sighed, remembering occasions like that. It had been pure luck Hicks had appeared to help them. Having O'Neal around might even help. And before the whole mess with the quickly developing bond he would have accepted the new team member without questions. Now... it was a critical time, even more so because of the strange poisoning, and if O'Neal got too deep into their little secret....
For now, Jeff was just a watcher. First they had to deal with this crisis, then the next. If Godzilla died, all other plans were redundant anyway.
"Reputation? As what?" Nick now asked, faint amusement in his eyes.
Jeff smiled. "Godzilla's dad."
That got him a small chuckle, but the paleness of Nick's features and the lines of pain were too prominent to say that Nick was actually happy. O'Neal had been with H.E.A.T. for a day now, studying the team, taking in whatever he could. He knew Nick, had worked with him for a while, and he hadn't changed all that much. He was more combative, fiercer, there was a fire in his eyes even this so-called bug couldn't squelch. He had come out of his shell, the lieutenant thought. Nick had been a fighter when they had met, showing great courage and bravery confronting the first Godzilla, but this was different. This was a protective streak O'Neal had not seen before.
And there was something else. It was subtle, but it was there. And everyone in the team knew it but him. Jeff grinned to himself. Well, he wasn't really one of the team, he was an intruder, and he was treated as such.
"Sorry about the rough time Monique is giving you," Nick said all of a sudden, as if he had read Jeff's mind.
The soldier shrugged. "I'm used to it. I'm with the military and there are times when you hate our guts just for existing." A grin split his lips.
Nick smiled as well. "I wish it wouldn't be this way, but Monique is always wary, especially when it comes to unannounced company."
Jeff shrugged again. "Orders are orders. I think the Major just wants to have someone keep an eye on you guys throughout this operation." He looked at Godzilla. "It isn't every day that the big guy comes down with something his metabolism can't handle and collapses on your doorstep. As for later..... well, you do a lot of government work, and since the French have their own agent on the team, our side wanted me in as well."
Nick's brows drew together and he seemed to try and x-ray O'Neal. "Godzilla didn't simply collapse on my doorstep. He knew he would find help here," he said, an edge to his voice.
Jeff held the suddenly wary eyes. "But not right away. Only when he started deteriorating. Say, Nick, since when do you have this bug?"
Now the fire in the blue eyes was no longer hidden or contained. The fierce protectiveness rose and O'Neal made a mental note of it. "Godzilla doesn't crawl to me after every little scratch!" he snapped, trying to control his tone of voice. "This isn't a normal injury and he followed his instinct to go to the place where he felt he could be helped." Nick drew in a shaky breath. "As for the bug, it's been a while, but I haven't had time to see a doctor. When this is over, I'll go."
O'Neal looked silently at him. He emptied his coffee mug and placed it on the foldable camping table. "I'm sorry," he said, startling Nick.
"Come again?"
"I'm sorry," he repeated. "For implying something I didn't want to. I'm not here as a spy, Nick. I'm here to help. That I'm with the military might be a problem, but I'm on your side."
Nick sighed softly. "I know," he said softly. "I'm just a bit on the edge." He gazed at the silent Godzilla.
"You are worried, that's understandable. Well, I'll better get out of your way, especially since my presence here is not exactly helping with the process." O'Neal rose. "You should get some sleep, Nick. You'll need it."
Nick watched him leave and rubbed his forehead.
"What did he want?"
He looked up and discovered Monique. Her face was set into a dark expression and her eyes seemed to glow from the inside. He recognized it. Suspicion.
"Talk," Nick answered tiredly.
"About?"
He smiled weakly. "This and that. Monique, he isn't the enemy."
"Why is he here? What does he want? Hicks has planted a spy and we both know it."
A sigh. "Monique, H.E.A.T. works mainly for the US government, even if we go against whatever orders they give us sometimes. Hicks is our only liaison, the only one knows there is more to Godzilla than meets the eye, and he is the only one who can cover for us.... and protect Godzilla from getting shot at by the armed forces."
"Maybe, but his arrival is just too convenient. Major Hicks suspects something and that is why Lieutenant O'Neal was placed on our team just now. Nick, we can't risk that anyone but those who know already hear about the link!"
Nick briefly closed his eyes. "Yeah...."
"O'Neal's presence is a danger," the secret service agent stated coolly.
He gave her a wry smile. "What do you want to do? 'Silence' him?"
Monique mirrored the smile, but she didn't say anything. Nick shook his head in silent amusement.
"He was right about getting some sleep, though," she finally said. "Go and lie down, Dr. Tatopoulos."
"Ears like a lynx, hm?" Nick joked.
It got him another wry smile, then Monique walked off.
Nick sighed and looked at Godzilla again, much too aware of the weakening presence in his head. He wasn't getting any better, just worse. He was losing the battle.... and with him, Nick.
"Hang on," he whispered. "Just hang on."

* * *

Jeff watched the two trucks drive up to the warehouse and unload their liquid cargo into a giant refinery tank. Both were Army trucks, both drivers had absolutely no idea of their cargo and what was inside the warehouse, and he had made sure they understood their orders. O'Neal wasn't simply a lieutenant in the Army, he had the necessary power of command to overrule other commands if he saw fit. The two drivers didn't need to see his ID though. He was above them in rank and that was enough right now.
Jefferson O'Neal was an Army brat, yes -- his father a officer, his mother an officer --, but he wasn't a stupid muscles-for-brain soldier with the social skills of a bulldozer. Officer material didn't come from the brute strength or the mindless firepower someone displayed. It came from intelligence and from your grades. He had a college degree in medical sciences, something he rarely needed, but it came in handy. O'Neal might have made it at the medical corps, but he had decided to get into a different area, the US Army special units, and that had gotten him the Godzilla assignment, seven months after he had made sergeant.
It was, after all, the definition of what the special forces were all about: military personnel with cross training in basic and specialized military skills.
And then there was the fact that Hicks had chosen him for a special program: studying Godzilla and Nick. He had started one year ago and the results had been surprising. Except for Hicks, he reported to no one about his findings and it was a lot of behavioral study if nothing else. O'Neal found himself enjoying the dry work, though he was called to assignments now and then, mostly those who concerned Godzilla. Hicks had formed a regular clean-up crew that consisted of dozens of teams who tried to help with what the monsters did of damage and more. Of course, they couldn't rebuild, but they could lend a helping hand before the local authorities had a grip on the situation.
He knew that Nick wasn't battling a flu or cold bug. The symptoms were all wrong. Major Hicks had briefed him thoroughly, had given him all case files from H.E.A.T., all the reports, all there was to know about each team member, and all about Godzilla. Jeff had interviewed people who had been there at the time of Godzilla rising to meet a new foe, those who had been able to see the interaction between man and monster, and the picture he had of it was pretty clear.
Since Nick and Jeff knew each other, Hicks was betting on the friendship factor to give Jeff a chance. For now, it worked. Of course, Monique was suspicious, as not other expected, but it didn't pose a problem. O'Neal wasn't here to spy. He was the Army's addition to the research team for monsters, and unnatural creatures and sightings. Not wanting this team to run out of control, the government had decided to add their own. That was the official story. Sounded good enough. The unofficial story was that Hicks wanted someone there, someone both sides could trust, and someone who would be a liaison of sorts.
And there was always the problem with Trinity. He sighed. Trinity was a major pain in the butt. Right now no one could do more than watch those guys, but as it seemed of lately, they were getting more and more active. If this turned out to be Trinity's work....
Jeff's lips became a thin, white line.
The trucks drove off again an hour later, the drivers saluting once, then Jeff walked into the warehouse. Monique and Randy were busy checking the read-out from the tank and dragging a giant tube over to Godzilla. He simply joined them, ignoring the Frenchwoman's glare.
An hour later they had the tube inside Godzilla's partially opened snout. Nick had stood close by, eyes only on the mutated lizard, and once again Jeff saw all their suspicions confirmed. Godzilla was almost docile, trying to accommodate the tube, which he surely didn't like.
"Open the tank!" Randy called to Monique, waving.
She waved back and did so.
Jeff stood back and watched. Everyone just watched.
"Come on, big guy, swallow," Randy whispered, the words sounding almost like a prayer. "It's to help you."
Godzilla made weak swallowing moves, but some of the liquid gushed out between his lips.
"Let's hope enough stayed in to help," Jeff mumbled. He looked over at Nick. "Yeah, let's just hope."

* * *

Elsie watched the world around her take on a strange, surreal light, the light of approaching dusk. These were the last few minutes of real daylight before the sun plunged below the horizon. She usually loved this time of day, but found no enjoyment in it this time. Each sunset meant another day lost, another day without a cure. Another day less to fight for Godzilla and Nick. Each night was their enemy, bringing with it the possibility of being their last night.
She hated it.
Now they had a possible antidote, but not all tests had come up positive. And even if they finally managed to clean out the last faults, how would they manufacture enough?
The sun slipped away and the bay became increasingly murky. She could hear the water slap against the concrete, the ships in the distance, faint echoes of city life from the Big Apple. Nothing calmed her frazzled nerves. Nothing but the good news of a cure would ever manage that.
Randy and Mendel were already on their way home. Nick had almost bodily thrown them out, telling them to get sleep in their own apartments, even though their protests had been loud. Elsie would have this night's shift together with Nick, tomorrow Mendel and Randy would be the one. With Nick. Nick never went to sleep much. Monique wasn't fazed by his orders and patrolled and skulked around on her own.
With a sigh, Elsie turned away from the window. She had a few more settings on the computer to check, then grab an eyeful of sleep. She was no use exhausted.

* * *

Monique barely refrained from pacing, but there was a nervous twitch in her muscles that betrayed the forced calm mask on her face. The balding, unshaven man leaning against several freight crates, smiled slightly.
"I have heard of the new addition to the H.E.A.T. team," Philippe Roche said calmly.
"He is a spy!" Monique spat.
"Just like you." The smile was still there and Monique hated it immediately.
"The army has no right..." she started.
"They have every right, mon chere. Lieutenant O'Neal might even prove to be an asset, if Godzilla survives."
A dark shadow coursed over her features at the implication. "He will survive," she insisted.
Philippe looked slightly doubtful. "If he survives," he repeated, "Lieutenant O'Neal's orders are to stay with the team on a permanent basis -- like your orders are. You could call him a special agent. He receives his orders from Hicks, but he has the power to overrule higher officers when needed." He raised an eyebrow.
Monique exhaled explosively. "Maybe, but he is still a problem."
"Because he knows nothing about Godzilla and his connection to Nick?" Philippe looked thoughtful. "Maybe."
She blinked. "You imply that the Army knows?!"
"Not the Army. Hicks. And O'Neal. My sources haven't been very successful, but I know we can trust those two a far greater lot than any high ranking government individual."
Monique sighed and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I don't like it. I do not trust Lieutenant O'Neal!"
"You should give him a chance, Monique. He will be part of this team, like it or not." Philippe grinned. "I did a thorough background check and I met him throughout the first Godzilla appearance. Very capable, very professional once he gets past his amazement, but I think the last years took care of that."
"So your orders are....?"
"Not to antagonize him too much," Philippe chuckled.
Monique muttered something under her breath. Philippe looked over to where the warehouse stood silently in the approaching dark. A thoughtful expression crossed his face.
"We should pray that both Dr. Tatopoulos and Godzilla survive this ordeal."
Monique's expression was all serious as she met his eyes. "Praying might not be enough."
"But it is a start."
With that he pushed away from the crates and walked into the maze of freight crates, the twilight swallowing him. Monique remained for a minute longer, just looking at the peaceful scene. She remembered the fight she and Nick had had mere hours ago, regretting a lot she had said. Nick was only looking for the best solution to this crisis, a crisis that might very well mean his and Godzilla's death, and she had simply let her temper take over. Mistake. As always.
Monique sighed silently and walked off toward the warehouse.

* * *

Nick had not moved from where he was sitting on the cot, and Godzilla was an immobile mountain of scales and muscle. The infected arm lay limp and spread out, the wound an ugly mark. Jeff O'Neal studied the wound and sighed. If this was Trinity's work, he wondered how they had pulled it off. From Nick's cryptic words and what Hicks had told him, it had been a monster attack. Then again, Trinity was known to dabble with genetics. Another sigh escaped his lips.
"Hey, Nick," he called and the scientist looked up, smiling dimly.
He didn't have to ask if there was any change. There wasn't. Nick was wasting away, as was Godzilla, and there was no stopping it unless an antidote could be found. The antibiotics had given them a headstart on the poison, but it wasn't enough.
"You should catch some shut-eye," he now advised.
Nick sighed. "Wish I could."
Jeff smiled a forced smile. "I've to call in to Hicks. If you want to, we can play a round of chess or something to pass the time." He shrugged.
Nick chuckled. "I'm a really bad chess player."
Jeff grinned. "Then get ready to meet the worst."
That drew another smile. He left the warehouse and stepped into the cool night landscape of the refinery.
The night had always held a particular fascination for him. Even as a kid he had been outside in the dark, watching the stars, listening to the soft sounds feeling like he was the only human being alive on this planet. Until his mother had called for him to get back inside or put on a thicker jacket. He smiled. Yes, he had loved the night. His father had taken him star gazing and they had gone night fishing. Whenever he had been home, his father had taken him somewhere new. Now the night was no longer as mysterious and fantastic as it had been for the young Jeff O'Neal. Night goggles and maneuvers took out the fairy tale atmosphere out of it, but he still liked it.
Now he stood outside the warehouse, watching the surf, listening to the faint sounds of the city. The others were asleep, except maybe Monique Dupres, but that was no great surprise. She was of the same breed he was, and she knew an intruder when she saw one. Jeff was an intruder into her territory, a threat to her authority and her team. She seemed to sense there was more to his presence than a simple order to keep an eye on them. He smiled. She was good and the reports they had on her did her barely any justice. He had to keep his eyes open and his back covered.
Getting out his cell phone, he opened the little flap and punched a key to unlock it. He was just about to dial when he felt something. Close-by.
"Drop the phone," a voice whispered and something was pressed against his neck.
Small, cold.... muzzle of a gun, his mind told him.
O'Neal froze.
"I said drop it!"
And the phone fell out of his hand, clattering to the ground, the sound unnaturally loud in his ears.
Then he turned slowly. His eyes met those of a young black man in dark fatigues, brandishing a gun. He was dressed in a semi-military style. O'Neal could read the wavering emotions in the man's dark eyes, but there was a firm expression around his lips, an expression he had seen with kids, who knew they might do the wrong thing, but were determined to go through with whatever they had to do.
"I'm unarmed," Jeff began, his hands spread out to show the young man he had no intention to shoot him. Well, mostly that was true.
"Shut up," the man commanded.
The warehouse's generators were a low background noise. The surf lapped against the quay and the noises of the city seemed to blanket them. The warehouse was a dark and almost silent lump behind them.... in which Nick was completely unaware of the situation. All this Jeff suddenly heard, was acutely aware of. He was reminded of an article he had once read, that people in near-death situations, stress situations, had heightened senses. Well, he mused darkly, the article had been right. And he could really attest to it. He had been in many near-death situations, but each one was new.
"You know the sentence for threatening an officer of the US Army, right?" Jeff asked conversationally
"I said shut up!" the man's voice rose.
O'Neal readied himself. He could take the guy out and he had to before his friends could join in the fun. And he had friends. This couldn't be a one-man kamikaze action. O'Neal was alone until he could call backup and though Nick had fighting experience, he'd rather not use the scientist for this fight.
"You'll die. Is that what you want?" he tried again.
The young man gave a hiss and his finger curled around the trigger. "The only one dying is you, soldier boy. Shut the friggin' hell up and move!"
"You don't want to die," Jeff pressed on. "I know. I can see it in your eyes." He made no move to walk.
Indecision warred in the dark brown eyes. He was getting somewhere, he was getting him to think. Maybe he was hired muscle, some kid who needed the money and knew how to use a gun. Maybe he was part of the group and full of their ideals. Whatever he was, he was easily accessed.
"I'm not alone. You know it. They probably briefed you. What do you want to do? Steal Godzilla? Kidnap someone?" He out a slight sneer into his voice.
The other man glared at him. "We do what we have to do."
"Sounds pretty. Just too bad you are going to bust this."
His eyes narrowed and he stared at O'Neal. "What....."
There was a creaking sound close-bye and he half turned toward it. O'Neal jumped.
He delivered a hard right into the face of his opponent, who went down like a falling tree.
Wow. Easy. He was surprised himself.
"Sorry, kid," he muttered and dragged him behind one of the containers.
Well, one less worry.

*

Nick didn't know what roused him, but he had slept fitfully to begin with and Godzilla's projections were a permanent echo in his mind. He had dozed off when O'Neal had left for his call and now had woken because there was something else, a kind of wrongness he felt. It was almost like instinct and he wondered if he was the one feeling it or if he was receiving it through Godzilla. Whatever it was, he felt it with rising anxiety, worming into his consciousness, insistently taking a hold of his thinking.
He sat up slowly, looking around. Everything looked normal. Godzilla lay about ten feet away, breathing raspy and labored, eyes closed. The water lapped gently against the concrete lip of the warehouse's ramp, and the lights had been dimmed. Diagnostics was lit up more brightly and the read out on the monitor told Nick nothing had changed. Still, the feeling was all wrong. The silence around him felt almost.... oppressive.
He got up from the cot Monique had brought over this morning and stretched slowly. O'Neal was nowhere to be seen. Maybe that accounted for the uneasy feeling. The soldier had decided to camp out with him and they had talked some more. It had been a rather pleasant conversation, but something about O'Neal made Nick think. Yes, he trusted the man because of their adventure back with the first Godzilla, but the timing.... why had Hicks assigned him now? It was a question that had been answered with straight-forward explanations, but they somehow didn't tell Nick what he wanted to know.
He sighed softly.
There was a soft, whispering sound. He froze and listened intently. A metal creak.
Okay, I'm going paranoid now, Nick sighed. The warehouse was old and it also had a certain life. He rubbed the back of his neck. Exhaustion and stress, he decided.
And then a black figure jumped him.

*

Jeff had scouted past the left side of the warehouse. He hadn't run into anyone but the guy who had tried to get him. He was about to turn back to check on Nick when something crashed down on him. Because he had turned, the heavy whatever-it-was -- it looked like a metal bar -- bounced off his right shoulder. It smarted, but it didn't really hurt, and he rolled aside to get out of the way of his attacker. The metal bar ended the life of a switched off lamp. Glass shreds rained over the Lieutenant as he crawled away, trying to get some distance between himself and his attacker. He reached for his weapon and pulled it, aiming it at the shadowy form.
The attacker, clad all in dark clothes, was looming over him, the bar raised to strike again. O'Neal raised his weapon and tried to shoot. The bar swung down, catching his left hand. He cried in pain as his hand was caught between a metal bar and a hard place, so to speak. At least the wall was very unwilling to soften. O'Neal lost his weapon, blinking back tears of pain. Cursing softly, he ignored the pain and struck at the attacker with his feet, catching him square in the chest. He was rewarded with a grunt as the attacker flew backward.
With a strength born out of adrenaline he attacked, using his feet since one hand was useless, kicking and striking at the man with whatever he could muster. The attacker lost his weapon. Jeff tried to get the upper hand, but a strike against his shoulder made him let go with a grunt. The other guy was definitely good! He had apparently had some training. This guy was a professional!
O'Neal suddenly saw the weapon lying near by and grabbed it with his left hand. Then he aimed at the shadowy figure of his opponent - who wasn't the least bit impressed.
He charged.
Jeff pulled the trigger.
There was a cry.
The man broke down, collapsing with an audible 'thump'.
The Lieutenant staggered to his feet and toward the attacker. He stopped at the motionless body's side, unsteady and panting.
The guy was still alive, Jeff now saw, a sizable wound in his shoulder, but alive. He hadn't aimed to kill. He had killing orders if all else failed, but he would try to avoid it. Furious dark eyes blazed up at him.
"You lost," O'Neal growled.
"Go to hell," the other hissed.
"That's where you'll go," the lieutenant answered coldly, his gun still pointed at him.
"And you'll follow, asshole."
"I don't think so. So, who's paying you? Trinity?"
"I work for no one!"
"Right. You break into this warehouse and attack people because you feel like it." O'Neal grabbed a piece of the terrorist's shirt and dragged him up. "I know you work for Trinity. Terrorists like you. We are on you, my friend, and we will take you out."
The man laughed. "Take us out? We are the salvation of this planet! We will kill every single monstrous abomination and every collaborator! The earth belongs to the human kind!"
Every word dripped with utter rage and hatred. He lived this hate, he fueled it with all he possessed.
"Shut up!"
"You are nothing but a stinking collaborator! A traitor to human kind! You are not worth the uniform you wear!" he screamed and his hand whipped up.
O'Neal saw something flash in the light of the lamps.
It was the blade of a knife. It flew toward him and he felt a sharp pain in his upper arm. His fist ended the argument and the terrorist slumped over unconscious. The words had stung, had hit him hard, but he didn't feel the satisfaction he thought that would come from silencing this scum bag.
The pain in his arm reminded him of the injury and his fingers came away with blood as he touched the wound. Things he didn't need. He cursed under his breath, collected his weapon, and jogged off toward where he had left Nick.

*

Monique had made her rounds, checking the warehouse, as well as the surrounding ground. She now made her way back through the silent refinery and stopped dead as she discovered the van. It sat dark and silent next to a side exit of the warehouse and there was a dark clad figure next to it, watching the warehouse. She ducked, blending in with the night around her, and when the figure let his gaze sweep over the area, he was unable to distinguish the agent from the shadowy darkness.
Who was that? Army? No. The army didn't go for stealth. And they didn't come along in vans without license plates.
Monique sneaked closer, making up her mind what to do with the man. She heard commotion from inside the warehouse and tensed. Something was going on... something she didn't like. The man turned back to gaze at the building and she took her cue.
He never knew what hit him as she delivered a blow to his neck, the man crumbling into an unconscious heap. Monique didn't lose time, she dashed for the warehouse entrance and flew through the open door, somersaulting, coming to rest in a ducked stance, surveying the area.
There was a muffled sound from further ahead where Godzilla lay and then a dry thumping could be heard. The Frenchwoman was a shadowy streak as she ran closer and stopped, blinking in surprise. The scene before her was as disturbing as it was surprising.
Nick sat on the overturned cot, featuring a growing lump on his temple, touching it gingerly. Two men in black clothes lay on the ground before him, both unconscious. O'Neal was typing a number in a cell phone. He looked more rumpled than Nick, a bloody bandage around his left upper arm, a cut over one eyebrow.
"Merde!" she hissed. "What happened?"
Nick looked up, smiling dimly. "We had visitors."
"This is O'Neal," the lieutenant said into the cell. "Code Sigma. I need a clean-up team, a paramedic and containment. Stat!"
"I can see that," Monique commented. Something flashed in her eyes.
Nick shrugged gingerly. "We kinda handled it."
She smiled, briefly showing her approval. Nick had learned a lot from her about moves and counter-moves to block an attack. It had served him well and it had honed his instincts. It didn't get him out of a fight unscathed, but he had a better chance of survival.
"We have a team coming in to take care of them," O'Neal said as he joined them. He had his injured arm pressed to one side and the bandage had by now turned red with the blood still leaking.
"Who are they?" she asked.
There was no reply and Nick only rubbed his eyes. "Wish I had a clue," the scientist answered after a minute, but Monique's eyes were on the soldier. O'Neal didn't move a muscle.
"I might," he finally said, voice level, "but for that I need to confirm a few things."
Monique approached menacingly. "If you are hiding something that endangers this team, you will answer to me, Lieutenant!"
"Monique....." Nick warned.
"Non. Godzilla was attacked by an unknown mutant, you were attacked by unknown men.... and he knows something." She fixed O'Neal with a cold look. "I want to know what is going on here."
"Don't we all?" O'Neal asked quietly.

*

The helicopter landed just as the sun rose over the horizon, tainting the bay with a soft, golden glow that soon was swallowed by the slight fog and the smog coming from the Big Apple. Ship horns blew and sea gulls rose into the air, disturbing the morning peace. Three men in army outfits stood next to the helicopter. One was the pilot, now checking something or other on his 'copter. Another was an armed man, surveying the warehouse. Both had patches of a special forces unit on their arms. The third was a woman, slender, wiry, with short dark hair. She was talking to O'Neal.
"I want to know what's going on here," Nick repeated for the third time, staring at Major Hicks with dark, angry eyes. "What is it you are hiding, Major? What are you keeping under wraps, as you like to put it?"
Hicks let his eyes fall on him, abandoning his own survey of the grounds. The three terrorists had been bundled up and flown off in a second helicopter just a little while ago, and Nick was sick and tired of hearing excuses and lame explanations.
"This is something that doesn't concern you, Doctor."
"It does concern me! These people attacked me as well and it wasn't just for the fun of it! Who are they? What did they want?"
Hicks sighed and rubbed his neck. "Nick...."
Nick's glare rose and he took a step toward the Major, face rigid. "I don't care about your arguments, Hicks. Something is going on here and I want to know what's going on. Now." His voice was quiet and very even.
Hicks met the cold blue eyes and the left corner of his mouth lifted slightly in a wry, humorless smile. "Come with me."
He also gestured at O'Neal, who said something to the female officer and followed. They walked into the warehouse, which was off limits for the army for now, and Hicks gazed at the silent lizard, his raspy breathing the only sound. Then he looked at Nick. O'Neal was leaning against the lab station. Somehow, the rest of the team had congregated here as well and all were looking at the two army officers with expecting faces. Even Randy was not spurting his usual quips.
"What I'm going to tell you is not for public ears," Hicks started.
Nick didn't respond, just looked darkly at him, silently telling him to spill it.
"Our lips are sealed," Randy said, but there was no humor in them.
He had arrived just about the time the chopper had landed and Mendel five minutes after that. Elsie had been up all night. Monique had woken her and explained what had occurred.
"The people Lieutenant O'Neal -- and Dr. Tatopoulos as well -- apprehended are members of a group called Trinity. They are terrorists of a new kind. They are extreme terrorists, so to speak. Their goal is to remove all mutations from Earth."
Nick blinked. "Come again?"
"Think the opposite of S.C.A.L.E.," O'Neal explained, face serious and expression kind of neutral. "They believe that the Earth belongs to human kind as the dominating species, that whatever poses a threat to overthrow us has to be destroyed, and everything that has not developed naturally, must be killed. They have destroyed genetic research stations all over the globe."
"Another bunch of crazy guys," Randy muttered. "What else is new?"
"Trinity is," Hicks told him. "Their methods are ruthless and extreme. They don't shy away from sacrificing their people and some suspect they condition their 'warriors of freedom' with drugs or else. They have access to a load of weapons the army has never seen with terrorists before. They hunt mutations and destroy them. We lost three of the newly discovered life forms to them already and while S.C.A.L.E. invaded Monster Island, they had an insider in the team who poisoned one of the creatures kept there." A shadow crossed his face. "They know a whole lot about those mutations and we believe they have access to top secret files. The government is running a mole hunt at all levels. Nothing so far."
Monique's face had turned into a permanent scowl. "And you still let them run free?" There was heavy criticism in her voice. "Why?"
"Because we know next to nothing about their organization as such," Hicks replied. "We found several of their bases, even a presumed headquarters, but they always left us with low level helpers, hired muscle, no information and a lot of useless old trails. Whoever is the head, he knows what he's doing."
"So why did they come here? Godzilla's dying," Nick said coldly. His pale, haggard face was set into a furious mask.
There was a short silence. "Yes, he's dying," Hicks then said slowly.
"And you think they did it," Monique added, fixing Hicks with a cold look of her own. "No, you knew it, n'est pas?"
"What?" Nick asked quietly.
Hicks sighed. "We thought it could be them. When you told me about the attack, I went to investigate. We don't have any hard evidence, but it might have been Trinity."
"It was a mutant attack," Elsie now spoke up. "We found the body. We have the poison."
"Trinity is double-headed," O'Neal said calmly. "On one side they kill off whatever mutation they encounter, but they also do their own dabbling in the arts. Trinity has created two known mutations to use them against another, natural born one."
"Natural born mutation," Randy snorted.
"So they created this thing?" Elsie asked, gaping.
"Most likely. It was intended for Godzilla and 'expired' after it had pulled off its assignment. We'd have to examine it to determine if this theory is correct. All we know is that this thing was shipped to a place where they knew Godzilla would find it. It destroyed the boat it was transported in, killing all crew members but one. Trinity stops at nothing to reach their goals."
"Shit, killer mutations," Randy whispered. "How do they know what to use against others?"
"Long term study." Hicks sighed slightly. "It appears they have eyes everywhere."
"Moles," Monique muttered. "You need to get better hunters."
"We are on it."
"So O'Neal didn't come here just to keep an eye on us," Nick stated, glancing at Jeff who didn't react.
"Yes and no. He is here to stay. That's a fact. Better get used to it as well. Lieutenant O'Neal is the Army's part of this team. Trinity is one of my main problems right now, Nick. I need a trusted officer to give you the edge if needed. Lieutenant O'Neal has the necessary power of command to overrule possible military threats to you. He's also knowledgeable when it comes to Trinity. You need this edge, Nick, because those people are to be taken seriously." He gestured at Godzilla. "They did this. Think what else they might come up with in the future."
Nick averted his eyes, chewing is lower lip. He looked ready to keel over. "Why didn't you tell me, Major?" he asked quietly.
"Because we couldn't be sure. This attack told us the rest we needed to know. I think those three were here to either speed up the process or check on possible threats to their plans, like an antidote."
Randy muttered a curse under his breath.
"So what else have you been keeping secret from us, Major?" Elsie demanded sharply.
"Shouldn't I ask you that?" Hicks replied calmly.
There was a neutral expression in Nick's eyes and everyone else was rather non-committal as well all of a sudden.
There was a beeping noise and Mendel almost jumped toward the lab station. "Yes!" he exclaimed.
Elsie joined him. "What is it?"
"We got one!" he grinned.
Nick stumbled over to them. "Antidote?" he breathed.
"Weak, but it's one." Mendel beamed. "We have something to work with!"
Nick exhaled softly. "Finally....."
He looked at Hicks and the major just nodded. He wouldn't forget that Nick still owed him an answer, but right now, there was a more urgent matter to take care of: saving Godzilla.

* * *

Producing anti-venom in large quantities proved to be a problem. They had a small amount, but it wasn't enough to give Godzilla a fighting chance at recovering from the substantial amount of poison in his system. And that was when the army came into the game. Hicks offered to help them and Nick was desperate now. He could feel the warmth he had come to realize was Godzilla fade. It was getting worse day by day. It was like a part of him dying.
And it was.
Nick stood at the door to the warehouse, feeling weak and wasted, but he knew it was just a mirrored emotion from the large creature in the middle of the otherwise empty hall. Godzilla had slipped into a kind of comatose state, his eyes closed, his breathing so shallow you had to listen close to hear him at all. The flesh around the wrist had discolored so badly, there were no greenish-gray scales left. Pneumonia had settled in two days ago and he had had trouble breathing. Now.....
Nick shivered, arms wrapped around his middle. He had spent the night awake, holding on to the small spark in his mind, pleading to it not to give in. There was no coherent response, not even a surge of emotions. Nothing at all.
Hicks had offered him the Army lab facilities and he had latched onto this last chance like a dying man. Right then and there he didn't care about what Hicks might know about him and Godzilla or not. He ignored Monique's every argument and just before he had come here, he had yelled at her, lost his temper for good for the first time.
Things took on a surrealistic quality around him. He struggled for breath and felt the edges of his vision blur away.
"Dr. Tatopoulos?"
The words seemed muffled and far away.
"Nick!" The sharp voice drew him out of the dream-like state he was in and he turned, discovering Monique. There was a serious expression in her eyes, but also an apologetic one.
"What is it?" he asked tiredly.
"I have come to apologize."
He blinked slowly. "What for?"
"For what I said. I had no right to do so. I know why you are doing this." She joined him, looking at the silent lizard. "You are doing it for him. I understand that. He is a part of you and you are losing this part. You can feel it slipping away and you are powerless to stop it on your own." Her usually so hard eyes met his, now soft and compassionate. "I only fear what will come out of asking for Major Hicks' help."
"I don't know what will happen, Monique," Nick said slowly. "I don't really care, actually. I need him to live."
She touched his arm and squeezed it gently. "We all do."
Nick gave her a surprised look, but Monique had slipped on her unreadable mask again. He gave up trying to break through it. He was too exhausted to try. Standing together in the twilight of the warehouse, Nick straining to listen to Godzilla, they seemed to reach an understanding.

* * *

A long, flexible, industrial-sized tube was running into Godzilla's half-open snout. It was affixed to a gigantic container full of the antivenom, that looked rather puny and small next to the mutated lizard. Nick stood next to the barrel, feverish eyes fixed on his charge, hands clenched. Elsie touched his shoulder and he flinched. She gave him a smile.
"It'll work. The lab tests showed it's a very potent and powerful antidote."
He nodded, but didn't look convinced. Elsie sighed silently and her eyes wandered over to where Major Hicks and Captain O'Neal were standing. She didn't like their presence, even if Hicks was an ally of sorts, but this was too delicate to begin with! What if it didn't work? How would it affect Nick? Another sigh left her lips. Hicks had helped organize several tons of disinfectant, which they had sprayed on the open, inflamed wound, but she didn't trust him to stop asking questions when this was over. He suspected something and she didn't like it.
"Okay, we are ready to go," Randy announced and walked over to them. His usually cheerful face was drawn into a worried frown, eyes serious. All knew Nick's own health and sanity hung in balance.
"Do it," Nick whispered roughly. Sounds were wavery and distorted again, he was losing his grip on reality fast.
Randy nodded and gestured at Mendel, who immediately went to power up the machinery. His fingers flew over the little computer he always carried and the pumps started with a soft hum. The industrial tubes came to life as the liquid rushed through them. Nick's eyes were riveted to Godzilla as the first gallons gushed into the large snout. The tube had been shoved into the throat of the lizard as far as they could and barely a drop spilled outside.
"Now we have to wait," Elsie said softly.
Nick nodded slowly, never looking away from Godzilla. Hicks walked over to them, alert eyes scanning over the two scientists.
"You think it'll work?"
"We hope," Elsie answered, trying not to sound to crisp.
His face turned into a wary frown and he was just about to say something when Godzilla suddenly snorted, then gave a painful, wheezing howl. Before Elsie could even react, Nick suddenly bent over with a cry, falling against the machine rack next to him. Godzilla started trashing, though it was a weak move at best, barely creating actual waves to be reckoned with, but his eyes had snapped open. They rolled wildly, then squeezed shut and he whined more, pain the most obvious emotion right now. His jaws opened, then closed haphazardly.
"He's going to bite through the tube!" Randy exclaimed.
"No," Nick wheezed. "Lie down. It's okay. I know it's not tasting good. I know it hurts. Lie down." It was almost an incoherent mumble, but only almost.
And barely loud enough to be heard by Hicks.
Godzilla lay down again, still agitated, but he did as Nick had told him -- or hadn't he?
Elsie fell to her knees beside her friend and colleague, grasping one wrist, making Nick look into her eyes. "Nick?"
"Cramps," he whispered. "I think it works, but.... it's painful." He bit his lower lip, hard, and gasped as the pain was suddenly too hard to suppress anymore.
Elsie clung to his wrist, giving him the focus he needed not to fall into Godzilla's mind. Another shudder raised through him, echoed by a soft snorkeling whine. The large lizard rolled an eye, looking at them, and Nick exhaled slowly. The pump was still busy with the antivenom, but it ran dry after two more minutes. Elsie wrapped an arm around Nick's shoulders as he slumped, feeling his clammy, feverish skin.
"Nick?" she whispered into his ear.
"Better," was the exhausted answer. "Much better. Works already." He swallowed, hands clenching again. "Needs time." His hands were curled into her sweater now, holding on.
"As long as it does him good......"
Suddenly Elsie became aware of their witness and she looked up. Major Hicks was looking down on them, face unreadable, eyes the same.
"One heck of a bug you caught," he finally said. "You should go and see a doctor, Doctor." With that he turned and walked away.
Elsie didn't know whether to sigh with relief or cry in frustration. He had seen what had happened and he wasn't stupid. He had figured it out, added one and one, and had come up with the most likely though incredible truth. She cursed softly. Then she concentrated on the man in her arms again, gently caressing Nick's sweat-slickened hair. He had relaxed and his breathing, though slightly raspy, was calming down. They had to wait to see the full results of their antidote, but if Nick was any indication, it was helping already.

* * *

-- Nick?
The thought startled him. No, not a thought. A kind of emotion, associated with his name. It was accompanied by a familiar feeling and Nick got off the chair he had nodded off in.
"Godzilla?" he asked, his voice an awed whisper.
A large, orange eye gazed at him, the expression filled with different emotions, but all incredibly gentle and soft. Nostrils opened wide and air was blown out, then the large head moved a fraction. The injured arm's claws flexed ever-so slightly.
"You're healing," Nick said almost as if to himself, walking closer to the giant lizard.
Another soft exhale.
"It's working."
He felt better himself. The pain in his arm was gone completely and his body was recovering in leaps.
The claws flexed again, one toe settling next to Nick, who didn't even flinch. Godzilla understood that he was getting better, but he wasn't strong enough to move yet. Soon, though. Soon. Nick touched the claw next to him and smiled as the presence in his mind shifted.
"Soon," he whispered.

* * *

A kind of false peace and quiet had fallen over the ferry building. The night had wrapped it into darkness and the almost complete silence outside seemed fake and forced. The waves lapped at the quay, a soft, calming sound normally, now something grating on her nerves. Elsie Chapman sat on a lab chair and stared at the computer screen that was displaying test results. Positive, happy results. The antidote was working, the G-cells were slowly recovering, and there seemed to be no drawback to their potion. Samples she had taken from Godzilla indicated that he was on his way to a full recovery.
The mutated lizard had slipped back into the dark, cold waters about two hours ago. He had been strong enough to move his body and he had taken the chance to go somewhere he felt safer to heal. She knew it was his only motivation, not that he was abandoning Nick or anything. Nick had told her that he had felt Godzilla's decision in his mind, that he had actually told him to go into his lair and rest. Which Godzilla had done.
This wasn't the reason for her gnawing worry anyway. It was good to hear that Godzilla was doing better by the hour, that he was actually strong enough to swim.
Elsie worried more about the implications of Major Hicks knowing what was going on. Hicks had left after Godzilla had slipped off into the sea, exchanging a few pleasantries, but there was no hiding the fact that he knew. He didn't talk about it, but he knew. And so did O'Neal. Somehow both knew.
What now?
What now?!
If Hicks told his superiors...... if they wanted to research the link, exploit it....
Anger and furious protective feelings rose inside her. They would have to go through her to get to Nick! She wouldn't let anyone poke and prod him, turn him into a guinea pig. That was her domain, she thought with a wry grin.
And then there was Trinity. The army had taken care of the dead body of the monster and Hicks had said something about dissecting it, finding out whether or not this was Trinity's work. Elsie sighed deeply. They really didn't need another problem!
Monique had silently agreed with her in a way. The Frenchwoman had had that expression on her face, the one Elsie had come to recognize as dangerous and a 'don't make a wrong move or I'll hurt you' warning when Hicks had said good-bye. If he spilled his findings..... well, she had no idea what Monique would do, but she would damn well do her best to protect them all.
Their changing relationship had something to do with that as well. Elsie looked over to the couch where Nick had fallen asleep. So much had changed, they had grown so much closer, and it felt so good. She remembered the dating service and how she had tried to find the perfect man for herself, someone who wasn't afraid of a strong-minded and independent woman -- without success. That man had been right in front of her nose all the time. Okay, so she had teased him, made her passes, always with a lot of humor, but maybe back then, her mind had tried to tell her something.
Elsie smiled softly, the worry forgotten for a moment.
Yeah, maybe it had. And she hadn't listened, probably because she had never thought that Nick would give up Audrey. His sudden link to Godzilla had helped along with that decision, but he had told her that something had been wrong between them for a while now. Okay, so it had given Elsie a chance, which she had used, but she didn't think Nick had gone into this new relationship out of desperation. He was too strong for that. And they were still trying this out anyway.
Elsie didn't mind that the package included Godzilla. Nick and Godzilla had belonged together even before the link had flared completely, and now was now different. She hadn't given the full implication of the link any closer thought, shying away from it actually, but she knew that it meant emotional exchange. Well, Godzilla surely received some things he didn't have a clue what to do with.
She grinned.
Nick moved sleepily on the couch and the grin turned into a fond smile. He had dropped off dead on his feet the moment Godzilla had felt better, probably the moment the pain no longer swamped into his mind. Elsie couldn't even begin to understand what Nick had gone through, but she had tried. If he got enough rest and good food, Nick would be on his way to a complete recovery soon. It had been mental exhaustion mainly, no physical wounds as such, and she was glad for the latter. Elsie hated to see Nick getting hurt in any way.
She rose from her chair and walked over to the couch, studying the relaxed but still pale face. There were lines of prior suffering etched into it that only time could erase. His hair was a mess, damp from the shower he had managed to take just before almost keeling over, and she ran her fingers lightly through it.
Nick stirred slightly and his eyes slid open a crack. When he discovered Elsie, he smiled tiredly.
"I thought you had gone home," he remarked, voice slurred with sleep.
"I thought so as well, but work kept me here." Well, it was a little white lie, but in a way it held some truth. She could have moved into the warehouse months ago, but both Elsie and Nick had agreed upon having their own living space, and sharing each other's on occasion. "How are you?"
"Better. Much better. He's sleeping." Nick raised himself into a sitting position, looking so much better despite his still pale complexion. Then again, he was always a bit on the pale side, even though he was getting a lot of outdoor exposure.
She nodded. "Regenerating?"
"Quickly. Looks like whatever you guys concocted, it worked wonders." There was a lot of thankfulness in his voice and Elsie smiled.
"Everything for our favorite team leader," she replied.
"I'll be so glad when I can sit up and walk without falling over myself," he remarked.
"With some of Elsie Chapman's homecooked meals and some loving care, you'll be on your feet again in no time," she teased.
"As long as it isn't Randy's chili, I'm all for it," Nick laughed.
"I said get you back on your feet, not get your stomach pumped."
He grinned.
"Is he still projecting?" Elsie wanted to know, part of the need to know based on her scientific interest.
"Yes and no. No more pain or confusion. He's sleepy and slightly dazed, but since the G-cells are back in operation mode, he's feeling better. Sometimes...." Nick trailed off, eyes holding a faraway expression. "Sometimes I think it's even thankfulness, but I might be projecting," he added with a half-grin.
Elsie tilted her head slightly. "Maybe, but I doubt it," she told him seriously.
Nick gave her a startled look.
"I know that Godzilla is developing faster now since you two linked," she explained, voice serious and calm. "I noticed it. I know you noticed it as well. He's getting a constant feed of you, Nick, and it aides in his own evolution."
"I....." he started, then shut up again, shaking his head. "Didn't think anyone would notice."
"Well, I did. Anyone with two eyes and half a brain can."
"So we can rule out Randy?"
That got him a chuckle from her.
" I believe you that he can project thankfulness," Elsie said and smiled. "Even more. I also believe that you have felt different emotions from him as well."
Nick rubbed his neck and ran a hand through his tousled hair. "Sometimes. He's developing fast, Elsie. Very fast." He was silent for a moment. "And I think he's learning even more."
"Like?" She sat down beside him, attentive.
"My name?"
Elsie stared. For a moment she was shocked, amazed and afraid in one. He had learned Nick's name? "How?" she stuttered.
"Assumption? Hearing you guys call me my name? Through the link? I don't really know, and I also don't know if this was a one-time event, but he called me when he was injured and tried to get away from the pain." Nick sighed. "I remembered it when Monique hypnotized me. Elsie, I really don't know if is for real, but something happened .... and is still happening."
"And you are scared?"
"Yes and no. I'm not scared out of some silly belief that he is a monster that is growing more intelligent. It's just that deep down inside, there is a knot that won't unravel." He shrugged. "I'm scared for him, when others find out the truth....."
She took his hand and squeezed it gently. "He is developing, Nick. A good thing. I don't want to say that you'll get more control over him, but he will listen to you. He understands you better, not just a few key words. As for others finding out..... we have to wait and see."
He nodded. "Yeah."
"Do you think Hicks knows?" Elsie asked quietly.
Nick sighed. "I'm not sure. Same about Jeff. They seem to know more, but then again, they might be acting to get us to lower our guard. I trust both of them with our lives, but this secret... it's too much. Hicks might have our best interest in mind 98% of the time, but the other two percent he's loyal to his government. Our government."
Elsie nodded slowly. "Same feeling here. We have to wait and see what happens next."
"He came through for us so many times before. I want him to be on our side, Elsie. In a way, we need him in our favor, but....."
"It's not easy to trust with something like that." Elsie smiled softly. "You didn't trust us with it right away either."
Nick sighed and looked down, slightly embarrassed. "That's different. I... thought you'd think I'm a freak."
She chuckled. "But you are our freak, Nicky," Elsie said lovingly.
A smile flitted over his pale features which were now faintly shadowed by a light blush. "Thanks, I think."
"For calling you a freak?"
"No. For hanging around... being there.... listening."
Elsie grinned, accepting the change of topic. "That's what friends are for, Dr. Tatopoulos."
Nick leaned toward her and grazed her lips with a soft kiss. Surprised, Elsie responded and wrapped her arms around him. Nick sighed softly and held her close. Suddenly he chuckled.
"What is it?" Elsie wanted to know.
"Godzilla. He just woke and is wondering what I'm doing."
Elsie laughed with him. Relationships like theirs were hard to explain to the asexual mutant. Nick yawned and she gave him a scowl.
"I think you should catch up on your recovery time, Nick. Go to bed."
"Alone?" he asked, teasing in his voice.
Elsie didn't fall for it. "I'm busy here, Doctor, so get going. You need rest."
"Yes, Ma'am."

*

He felt good. Better than in days. Much better. The sheets were cool against his skin and he could hear the sound of the bay through the open window. Nick gazed at the darkness of the ceiling, relaxed, totally at peace. Something inside him drifted and he smiled as it came closer.
Hey, he whispered softly.
The presence moved in, playfully wrapping itself around his mind. Godzilla had recovered quickly. The moment the G-cells were back in working order, he had healed. The memories of the time he had nearly died were there, but he was alive and well.
There was a flurry of movement under the water, powerful muscles bunching, coiling, uncoiling, enjoying the feel of the water against armored hide, brushing over the reefs... free.
Nick laughed, riding along, letting himself be carried. Yes, free. He loved to be drawn into the cold waters with his charge, to experience his power and his boundless energy. He grew never tired of being there.
Whispers carried over into his mind. Not intrusions, just another part of him.
He fell asleep like that, smiling, curled up in his blanket.

* * *

Major Tony Hicks played with an Army issue pen, tapping it onto the hard wooden surface of his table. Jeff O'Neal had left an hour ago, after a full briefing and debriefing, and now he was alone with his thoughts.
Their suspicions had been proven right.
He shook his head, smiling.
You are full of surprises, Worm Guy, he thought.
Hicks knew Nick would never spill his secret and do everything to hide it, but in time, he'd have to accept that two other people knew as well. Hicks had no intention to either tell anyone or use the knowledge to his advantage. With O'Neal in place with H.E.A.T, Nick had the best chance to keep himself and Godzilla safe from others who might know.
Like Trinity.
Something was going on there and Hicks knew it wouldn't be pretty. Not pretty at all.