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The subway tunnel smells like rust and something rotten.
Ivy keeps her gun up, the rune crawling hot under her sleeve. Zero's ten feet ahead, moving quiet for a dead man. Every step he takes, she watches his spine, the way his shoulders roll. It's him. Same gait Marcus drilled into all of them back when they ran ops in Prague.
She hates that she still remembers.
"How far?" she asks.
Zero doesn't turn. "Two stations down. There's a service shaft. Leads to the old lab."
"And you know this how?"
"Because I woke up there."
Her finger twitches on the trigger. The rune flares, just a little. It wants her to shoot. She swallows and lowers the barrel an inch.
"You said Lily built the protocol."
"She did."
"Then why the hell would Marcus turn her into one of you?"
Zero stops. Turns. His eyes catch the dim emergency lighting, and for a second they flash that same blue her arm does when the rune feeds.
"Because she tried to shut it down," he says. "And he needed proof it worked."
Ivy's stomach drops.
Before she can answer, something scrapes metal behind them.
She spins. Three shapes drop from the air vent overhead, landing in crouches that aren't human. Wet skin, too-long limbs, faces that used to be people. One of them has a name stenciled on its chest rig: KESSLER.
Ivy knew a Kessler. He ran logistics in Berlin. Died in a car fire.
Apparently not.
"Move," Zero snaps.
She fires twice. The rune screams up her arm, hot enough to blur her vision. First shot takes Kessler in the chest. He staggers, then keeps coming. Second shot blows through his knee. He goes down, but the other two are already on her.
Zero slams into the one on the left, drives it into the tunnel wall hard enough to crack concrete. Ivy ducks under the right one's claws, jams her gun under its ribs, and pulls the trigger three times. The rune burns white. She gasps, drops to one knee.
The sample falls. Doesn't get back up.
Kessler's crawling toward her, leg dragging, jaw unhinged like a snake. She aims. Her hand shakes.
"Ivy!"
Zero's voice. She fires. Kessler's head snaps back. The rune flares so bright she can see her bones through her skin. Then it goes dark. Her arm drops, dead weight.
She can't feel her fingers.
Zero hauls her up by the collar. "We need to go."
"I can't—my arm—"
"It'll come back. It always does."
He drags her forward. She stumbles, catches herself on the tunnel wall. Her right arm hangs limp, the rune dim and pulsing slow, like a dying heartbeat.
"How do you know?" she gasps.
He doesn't answer.
They make it another hundred feet before she hears it: footsteps. A lot of them. Echoing from both directions.
"Shit," Zero mutters. He pulls her into a side passage, some kind of maintenance alcove. Barely enough room for both of them. He shoves her against the wall, stands in front of her, one hand on the concrete.
She can hear them now. Wet breathing. Claws on metal. They're not trying to be quiet anymore.
"How many?" she whispers.
Zero tilts his head, listening. "Eight. Maybe ten."
"We can't fight ten."
"I know."
The rune flickers. Feeling crawls back into her fingers, pins and needles and fire. She flexes her hand. The gun's still fused to her palm. She raises it, aims past Zero's shoulder at the tunnel mouth.
The first sample rounds the corner. Then another. Another.
Zero moves.
He's fast. Faster than he should be. He catches the first one by the throat, slams it into the second, and they both go down in a tangle of limbs. The third one lunges at him. He sidesteps, drives his elbow into its spine. It drops.
Ivy fires over his shoulder. The rune screams. Her shot takes the fourth sample in the face. It falls. She fires again. Again. The rune burns so hot she can smell her own skin cooking.
Zero grabs the fifth sample by the arm, twists, and something snaps. It shrieks. He throws it at the sixth. They collide. He's already moving, already on the next one.
She's seen this before. The way he reads the fight, the way he doesn't waste a step. It's exactly how he used to move when they ran Moscow together, back when he was still human.
Her chest tightens.
The last two samples circle them. One goes for Ivy. Zero steps between them, takes the hit across his ribs. Claws tear through his jacket. He doesn't flinch. Just grabs its wrist, yanks it close, and breaks its neck with his bare hands.
Ivy shoots the last one. The rune flares white, then dies. Her arm drops again. She sags against the wall, gasping.
Zero stands in the middle of the alcove, breathing hard. Blood drips from his side, black under the emergency lights. He looks at her.
"You good?"
She nods. Can't talk yet.
He turns, scans the tunnel. Listens. After a long moment, he relaxes. Just a little.
"That's all of them," he says.
"For now," Ivy croaks.
He huffs. Might be a laugh. "Yeah. For now."
She pushes off the wall, tests her weight. Her legs hold. Her arm's still numb, but the rune's pulsing steady again. It'll come back. He was right about that.
She hates that he was right.
"You took that hit for me," she says.
Zero doesn't look at her. "So?"
"So you're supposed to be a monster."
"Maybe I am."
"Monsters don't do that."
He finally turns. His eyes are still blue, still wrong, but there's something else in them now. Something that looks like the man she used to know.
"You don't know what I am, Ivy," he says quietly. "I'm not sure I do either."
Before she can answer, a flashlight beam cuts through the tunnel. Then another. Footsteps, fast and organized. Not samples. Human.
Zero tenses. Ivy raises her gun.
Ash rounds the corner, tactical vest, rifle up. Two more agents behind him. He sees Ivy first. Relief flashes across his face. Then he sees Zero.
The rifle snaps up, centered on Zero's chest.
"Step away from him, Crowe," Ash says. His voice is steady, professional. The voice he uses when he's following orders he doesn't like.
Ivy doesn't move. "Ash—"
"That's a bioweapon. Step away."
Zero raises his hands slowly. Doesn't run. Doesn't fight. Just stands there, blood dripping from his ribs, and waits.
Ivy steps between them.
"Crowe, move," Ash snaps.
"No."
"That's an order."
"I don't take orders anymore. Remember?"
Ash's jaw tightens. The other two agents shift, fingers on triggers. The tunnel feels too small, too hot. The rune flickers under her skin, hungry.
"Marcus wants you alive," Ash says. "He didn't say anything about the sample."
Ivy's stomach goes cold. "What?"
"New orders came through twenty minutes ago. I'm supposed to bring you in. The sample gets neutralized."
"You mean killed."
"I mean neutralized."
Zero hasn't moved. Hasn't said a word. He's just watching Ash with those wrong blue eyes, like he's already decided how this ends.
Ivy keeps her gun low, but her finger's on the guard. One move and she can bring it up. She's fast. Always has been. But Ash is faster, and he's got two more guns backing him.
The rune burns.
"Why does Marcus want me alive?" she asks.
Ash hesitates. Just for a second. But it's enough.
"I don't know," he says. "But I've got my orders."
"And if I don't come?"
His grip tightens on the rifle. "Then I make you."
The tunnel goes quiet. Just breathing and the distant drip of water somewhere in the dark. Ivy's heart pounds against her ribs. The rune crawls up her forearm, hot and eager.
Zero speaks, low and calm. "She's not going anywhere with you."
Ash's rifle doesn't waver. "You don't get a vote, sample."
"Yeah," Zero says. "I do."
He moves. Fast. Faster than Ivy's ever seen him move. One second he's standing still, hands up. The next he's on Ash, knocking the rifle aside. Gunfire lights up the tunnel. Ivy ducks, throws herself against the wall. The two agents behind Ash open fire. Bullets spark off concrete.
Zero slams Ash into the ground. The rifle skitters away. Ash rolls, reaches for his sidearm. Zero kicks it out of his hand, then grabs Ivy by the wrist and runs.
They sprint down the tunnel, gunfire chasing them. Ivy's arm screams, the rune flaring with every heartbeat. She can hear Ash shouting behind them, calling for backup.
Zero pulls her into another side passage, then another. The tunnel branches, splits, turns into a maze. He knows every turn. Doesn't hesitate.
Finally, he stops. Pulls her into a narrow service shaft. They press against the wall, breathing hard. Footsteps echo somewhere close, then fade.
Ivy leans her head back, gasping. "Why did Marcus want me alive?"
Zero looks at her. The blue in his eyes pulses, same rhythm as the rune in her arm.
"Because you're next," he says.
The rune flares white. Ivy's vision blurs. She feels it crawl higher, past her elbow, spreading under her skin like ice and fire.
And somewhere far above them, she hears Marcus's voice on a radio: "Sample Seven is moving. Crowe's with him. Bring them both to Sub-Level Three. Alive."