Disclaimer: I do not own Prototype or the characters involved in this fic. Prototype belongs to Radical and Activision.

Chapter 1 - Reminisce

Pain.

The only word you can think of, the only thing you can feel.

Memories flash by your face as you realize what's going on. You try to scream, but black, heavy mass come flooding out of your mouth. It's disgusting. You can't talk, you can't move, can't think, only wait as the biomass leeches.

You're weak, pathetic. You can't even withstand heaving.

You hope this'll end soon.

Cups clash with the sound of hot liquid steaming. It's her, Dana, she's making coffee. She pours the black liquid into a white mug and walks over to her office chair. She sets the cup down to cool before plopping down into the cushioned seat.

She's in an apartment, simple, really. There's no walls dividing the kitchen with the living room, no dining room, a bathroom, and a hallway leading towards 3 bedrooms. One for Dana, Amaya, and Heller. One for each of them. Although James is Amaya's real father, he is uncomfortable sharing a room with his own daughter. He would prefer if she'd share a room with a motherly figure, anyways.

Dana reaches towards her drawer. She pulls it open, and in plain sight are pens, hair ties, hair clips, and a treasure box. Hesitant, she grabs the box, being flat and pink. It has a golden flower design on the corners, and a key lock. She reaches for her neck and finds her necklace chain. It's pendant is a tiny little gold key. It fits the keyhole on the box. She raises the box to her eye level, and slowly places the key inside, turning it with a 'click'.

Inside is one item: a picture, in it's worn out, brown frame.

It's a photo of her and her brother, before she was abducted and put in a coma. He was willing to take a picture with his sister, although refused to crack a real smile. Nevertheless, he managed a smirk.

Her fingers are drawn to the item, gently sliding them across the said man.

"You find anything?"

"Jesus Christ! Don't do that, Je-" she breathes heavily, taking in the brief surprise of her brother.

"..Sorry."

"Okay.. your apartment?"

"There's nothing left there," he exclaims.

She sighs, still stunned. "Well it doesn't matter, I've been lookin' at your laptop."

"Laptop?" he says as he leans towards her. Not used to the close contact, she leans back.

"Yeah. It came in a package the day after you went AWOL. Look," she quickly gestures to the screen after making the brief, unnecessary comment.

Her eyes water, forming a clear teardrop to slide down the bridge of her nose, falling on the picture protected by the glass.

"Ms. Mercer?"

She jumps, and shoves the frame back in it's treasure box, slamming it shut. She quickly wipes her pink eyes with her sleeve and sniffs.

"Miss, are you alright?" It's Amaya.

Dana puts on the best smile she could. "Yeah," she lied.

She calls her over, and lifts the child onto her lap. "Remember what I said about calling me Miss?"

"Oh right,"

She strokes her black, shiny hair, twirling her finger in one of the braids.

"It's okay," she smirked. "it just makes me feel old."

Eventually, the comfort of the child and the warmth of the room would mean she would be lost in a train of thought again. Not that there wasn't anything to think about. Heller said he would deal with everything, and that it wasn't her job to be patronizing him, but she couldn't help herself. Alex always had her involved in the things he did, because he needed her at the time. He and Heller were so different.

It's been only 2 weeks since Alex's death. It was recently, and although he had been so distant, Dana had not the time to mourn. Really, he died a long time ago, but nothing she would say now would defeat what she said to him before.

"It's alright, Alex, it's fine. Look, no matter what you're still my brother."

She, Amaya and James have been living in this private apartment in the Green Zone ever since.
The routine was almost identical to hers and Alex's, the man of the house would leave in the morning, and return later in the evening. The only addition was his daughter.

There have been times when Heller and her would talk, only to have it complex very few times. He even went as far as apologizing for dumping his daughter in her care like that. Dana never took it, though. She wasn't a burden, mainly because is was like taking care of herself, but with an extra mouth to feed, and extra hand to hold, and a little sister in general.

Amaya knew she had been crying, but didn't know why.

"I was crying too, y'know," Maya whispered, trying to look at her eyes.

"I wasn't crying.." she bluffed. She couldn't look into the child's eyes.. they were too capable of catching lies.

"I lost my mom. I really wish I had her back. Why were you crying? Did you lose somebody, too?"
she questioned.

"Yeah.. my older brother. He was all I had."

"I always wanted an older brother.."

"Well, you're very lucky to grow up with your mom and dad. They both love you very much," she smiled.

"Why isn't my dad here at home? Where does he go?"

Dana knew the girl was so young, she didn't want to make it sound complicated for her, but she knew how frustrating it was when somebody only replied with the words, 'it's complicated', so she spoke to her a little more maturely than however most guardians would. After all, she was 9.

"Bad scientists are here. They are the ones who created the flu that turns people into zombies," she explained. "Your dad is trying to make the flu disappear. But don't worry, he's winning."

"My dad always won everything he joins.." she giggled.

"Yeah? My brother too." Dana smiled, enjoying Amaya's company.

After a brief silence, Maya climbs off, and sits on the chair beside her.

"What does your brother look like? Is he ugly? Cute? Tall? Short?" She leaned forward with her hands folded in her lap, a wide, toothless smile slapped on her face.

"This girl.." Dana shook her head in disbelief, smiling. "I can't really answer that, since he's my brother and it would be awkward," although this little lady is young, curious, cute and a bit innocent, she has a rough and sly interior. She had to be careful around her.

"Do you have any pictures?"

"No. Sorry, honey," she replied a little too early, another lie. "How about I fix you up with some lunch?"

She nodded in reply, and hopped off her seat.

Short chapter is short, I know.. but its just a prologue I guess. Should I continue? I will if I have at least 3 reviews.

Thanks for reading!