The Tainted and the Broken- Part 7
Author: dream-edge
Title: The Tainted and the Broken
Summary: In an effort to protect Ziggy, Dillon is thrown into the future. A future where everything he knows is drastically different. During his struggle to get home, he finds himself drawn into the twisted, broken mess his best friend has become.
Rating: T
Pairings: Dillon/Ziggy, Doctor K/Tenaya
Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or anything related to the franchise.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
The Tainted and the Broken
Chapter 7
Dillon woke up to the feeling of the warmth next to him disappearing. He shifted restlessly, sliding his eyes open just slightly. For a moment he couldn't quite remember where he was, and then he caught sight of the figure across the room. Ziggy was curled up in his window seat, which allowed the light of the rising sun to shine in. His arms were crossed over his knees as if he was trying to curl into a ball and his eyes were locked on the sunrise. He frowned at the lonely, distant and unreachable image his best friend created. "Ziggy?" he whispered.
The boy turned back to him. "Morning Dillon." he greeted solemnly. Dillon pushed himself up, watching as the orange and red light of the sun glinted off his friend's pale skin. "What are you doing up?"
Ziggy shrugged slightly, leaning his head on the glass next to him. "Thinking." he whispered. "So much has changed." There was a sad note to his voice and he once again turned his head back to stare out the window. Dillon sighed, resting his hands on his knees. "Ziggy..."
"Please don't start." Ziggy told him. "I know what you're going to say and I've heard it all before." He looked over at him, his eyes shadowed and dark. He pushed himself off the ledge, walking towards him. Dillon wasn't entirely sure what to expect as he did so but he allowed the boy to approach. Ziggy laid a hand on his shoulder, his gaze slightly concerned. "Go back to sleep Dillon." he whispered. "You look like you need it."
Dillon let him push him down, surprised by the silent strength of his movements. "What about you?" he asked. A wave of tiredness washed over him and he had to fight to keep his eyes open. As they slid down he could just make out Ziggy's weak but amused smile. His words were faded as he whispered, "Not yet Dillon."
---
When he woke up, he was alone. He stood and walked out quickly, blinking against the harsh light filtering in through the window in the garage. The entire building was near empty. He frowned slightly, walking into the only room he hadn't checked. Kat's lab was also empty but a door he had never noticed before was open on the far wall. He walked towards it, gently nudging it open.
The room was round and was empty except from the semi-circle table resting on a raised platform. He spotted Ziggy sitting in the seat directly across from door, talking heatedly with an old man sitting next to him. The man looked tired, with a worn expression and age-lines. But Dillon recognized the dark blue uniform he was wearing, the familiar brown eyes.
Colonel Truman.
The military leader of Corinth was so much different than he remembered. He looked very tired and his eyes had the same defeated light that Ziggy's had, it just wasn't as carefully hidden. The loss of his last son had obviously taken its toll on him.
Ziggy stopped talking suddenly, his eyes flickering over to him. "Good morning, Dillon." he greeted.
Truman turned towards him and a glint of anger lit up his dark brown eyes for a single moment. Then... nothing. There was no hate, no heat, nothing that he had expected. It seemed that after all this time, after all the hardship, Colonel Truman had lost even the energy to hate the person that had taken his son away from him.
Ziggy stood, turning his attention away from Truman. "You slept in." Ziggy informed him. "It's nearly 1300."
He shrugged slightly. "Guess I needed the sleep. What's going on?"
"We were just discussing ways to enhance the city shield. Tenaya believes that if we can shift the shield to the proper frequency, it can be used as a weapon." Ziggy told him calmly, moving away from the table and Colonel Truman. Dillon leaned against the doorway, watching his friend with a raised eyebrow. "You can do that?" he asked.
Colonel Truman spoke up, his voice deep but weary. "Miss Seven believes we can. But it would take a massive amount of work and we simply do not have the resources to complete the work."
Ziggy turned to him, exasperation in every line of his body, making Dillon wonder how long they'd been having this argument. "Those are resources my team can easily obtain if given the chance." he snapped.
"But the work, Mr. Grover, would leave the shield down for an extended period of time. Time that we also do not have. I do not know what exactly you are trying to accomplish here but I will not allow your suicidal tendencies to threaten this city." Truman snapped back, standing up to meet Ziggy's cutting stare. Dillon was impressed. He had been faced with that stare before and had had a hard time meeting it every time. Truman had apparently gained a resistance to its effects.
The Green Ranger straightened, throwing his shoulders back as a hard expression slid across his face. He was suddenly the leader he had claimed himself to be. And Dillon had to admit, that it was a frightening image. "I am trying to end this war, Colonel." Ziggy said, his voice clear, without inflection. There was more in his tone, something that made people stand straight and listen to him. "You want to wait Venjix out but we both no that's not going to happen. He has the world's resources at his finger tips; he is not going anywhere anytime soon. We are." He paused then continued, less heat in his voice, more sadness. "We are winning the war Colonel, but we are losing every battle. Any progress we have made so far has been made with blood. And the city, these people, they know that."
"People can't just live Colonel." Ziggy whispered. "They have to live for something."
Truman sighed, sitting down heavily. "It is a bad plan. But you are right. We can not afford to loose anymore people." He looked away, admitting defeat. "If your team can acquire the materials needed then... you may go ahead with Miss Seven's plan."
A grateful smile curved Ziggy's lips for the briefest of moments before it disappeared. "Thank you Colonel." He said as he nodded. The Colonel stood up and nodded to the both of them. Dillon watched as they exchanged goodbyes, surprisingly pleasant despite the heated argument they had just had. He waited until the man had left before he approached, coming to stand next to his shoulder. "That was interesting."
"I hate politics." Ziggy muttered. "I normally let Kat handle it."
Dillon snorted in amusement. "Where is Kat? Where's everyone for that matter?"
Ziggy shifted to look up at him, a thoughtful look on his face. "Gem and Gemma are out playing with shift 4 and Kat and Tenaya are..." he trailed off, his eyes glazing over. Dillon frowned at him, watching as his expression turned distant. After a minute his eyes cleared and he returned to normal. "They're out on a date, I guess you could say."
"Good for them." Dillon said. "What do we do?" he asked.
Ranger Green smiled slightly, shaking his head. "I have to work on the plans for the shield. You are going to sit around and do absolutely nothing."
---
Dillon swirled the chair he was sitting in, watching as Ziggy typed rapidly on Kat's computer. "You sure you should be messing with that?" he asked for the fifth time in that hour. Ziggy looked up, giving him an irritated look. "Yes I'm sure." he hissed. "Now shut up and let me work."
He smirked slightly as the boy returned to the project he was working on. Two years ago, Kat would never have let him anywhere near her computers. Now Ziggy moved around them like he owned them. It was an interesting sight. He stood, walking over to his friend. He stopped behind him, noticing how tight his muscles were. "You're really tense." he whispered, dropping his hands onto Ziggy's shoulders. Ziggy froze for a minute then kept working. Dillon's smirk widened. "Are you ignoring me?" he asked.
No response.
He shook his head, pushing his fingers into the tense muscles in Ziggy's shoulders. The boy shifted slightly but let him do it. Smiling slightly, Dillon pushed his thumbs upward, letting them brush the skin at the nape of his neck. His smile immediately disappeared, replaced by a frown as he gently fingered the rough skin collected there. He pushed Ziggy's long hair aside, staring at the scar printed into the back of Ziggy's neck. "What’s this?" he asked.
Ziggy paused again then brought one of his hands up to brush over the scar. "Its old." he muttered. "Not important."
His jaw tightened and he gripped Ziggy's shoulders. "What's it from, Ziggy?"
The Green Ranger sighed and glanced at him from over his shoulder. "Do you remember that necklace in my room? The one next to your watch?" he asked. Dillon frowned, picturing the ball-bearing wolf chain in his mind. Ziggy nodded. "Yeah that one." he whispered, his tone sad. He looked back down at the computer as Dillon focused, realizing the chain of the necklace would fit into the scar perfectly. "It was a present. You got it for me." Ziggy told him. "I never took it off. When you lost to the virus, you ripped it off my neck, so hard it left a scar."
He frowned slightly, staring at him. There was a sad, wistful smile on his face, making him wonder what he was thinking about. He didn't know why but he leaned down, pressing his lips gently against the scar. Ziggy froze again. When Dillon pulled away he dropped his head back, staring up at him with wide eyes. After a minute of them staring at each other, Ziggy smiled softly. "Thank you." he whispered. Dillon smiled down at him and nodded.
---
Dillon frowned slightly when he heard the soft music echoing out from the garage. He walked towards it, listening to the beautiful harmony. The music was dominated by a violin and what he thought could be a harp. There weren’t any lyrics, just a woman's voice echoing the melody. He entered the garage to see Ziggy working on his car in the same way he'd seen Gem do once. However, the music was defiantly coming from Gemma's silver Infiniti. "Didn't think this was your kind of music." he told him.
Ziggy glanced over at him, not seeming terribly surprised to see him standing there. "Its not." he answered. "But my music will just make my headache worse."
"What's wrong?" he asked, walking over to him. Ziggy shrugged. "It’s just a headache. It's called a physic backlash. Happens if I'm not careful with my telepathy." he told him. Dillon sighed slightly, turning to look at the numbers flying down the screen. "What are you working on now?" he asked.
"The shifts." Ziggy told him, turning back. "They're very important on missions like this."
He hummed slightly, still not knowing enough about the information to make use of it. "I see." he muttered, hearing Ziggy snort in amusement. "I'll be riding with you, right?"
Ziggy paused, looking up at him. He sighed in annoyance. "I'm coming Ziggy."
"That is, not a risk I can take." Ziggy told him, trying to turn back to his computer. Dillon growled, grabbing his shoulders and spinning him around. "Explain it to me." he hissed, making the younger man back up until he hit the car door. Ziggy took a deep breath, his eyes slightly wider than normal. "What if the other you is there Dillon?" he asked. "I can tell you apart on sight but the others can't. If you come along and he's there, how are they going to be able to tell you two apart? What if they think you're him and attack you? What if... they think he's you?"
Dillon closed his eyes and pulled away. "I can't take that risk with their lives." Ziggy whispered. "I'm sorry. Any other situation, I'd gladly have you by my side."
He sighed heavily, turning away from him and placing his head against the cool metal of the roof of Ziggy's car. The Green Ranger's hand fell onto his shoulder. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked. He nodded tightly. "I'm just tired."
"How? You slept through the entire morning." Ziggy commented. Dillon turned his head to look at his friend. Ziggy stared back at him, his gaze concerned. "You want to go to bed?" he asked. He shook his head. "Maybe later." he whispered.
Ziggy looked like he was going to say something but before he could a dark violet Lotus Evora rolled into the garage. Ziggy pulled back, turning to watch as Kat and then Tenaya stepped out. The Violet Ranger smiled at them. "What’s going on?" she asked.
"I've got a headache, Dillon's tired, and we're going out tonight." Ziggy told them. Tenaya smiled. "Cool."
---
Dillon watched from the sidelines as the team got ready, unable to shake the feeling that he should be going with them. Kat was fussing over Tenaya, Gem was fussing over Gemma, Tenaya and Gemma were rolling their eyes, and Ziggy was next to him watching it all in amusement.
Kat pulled back, looking up at Tenaya with wide eyes. "Be careful okay?" she requested. Tenaya nodded, leaning forward to press a passionate kiss to the doctor's lips. Dillon smiled slightly, turning away from the display to stare at his friend. "Do I have to tell you that?" he asked.
Ziggy looked up at him. "You can. I doubt it will do any good, but you can." he told him. Dillon smirked slightly, shaking his head. "Go." he ordered.
The Green Ranger smiled slightly before gathering his team together. Dillon followed the group out to their cars, watching as they climbed in. "Ziggy." he called. The man paused, looking over at him. "Be careful." he requested.
Ziggy smiled slightly again and nodded. "I always am."
---
Two hours later and they still weren't back. Kat had kicked him out of her lab about an hour into the mission, leaving him to worriedly pace the length of the garage. He sighed, running a hand through his hair and ordering himself to stop thinking. They'd be back. Eventually. He hoped.
He stopped when a wave of dizziness crashed over him and groaned, pressing his hands to his eyes. Maybe he should have taken that nap. He slid open his eyes, not removing his hands, and gasped slightly when he realized he could see straight through his palms. He pulled his hands away quickly, staring at them. And through them. He was fading away.
He quickly turned and hurried back into Kat's lab. "Kat!" he shouted. The woman looked up at him, annoyance in her eyes. "Yes Dillon?" she asked irritably. "We've got a problem." he told her.
Before he could say anything else, another wave of dizziness crashed over him. He winced, bracing himself against the desk. Kat stood up quickly, walking over to him. "Dillon? Are you okay?" she asked.
He shook his head, his vision blurring. His knees buckled and he let himself crash to the floor. The last thing he heard was Kat's worried shout of his name before he fainted.
Then... nothing.
Chapter 8
Title: The Tainted and the Broken
Summary: In an effort to protect Ziggy, Dillon is thrown into the future. A future where everything he knows is drastically different. During his struggle to get home, he finds himself drawn into the twisted, broken mess his best friend has become.
Rating: T
Pairings: Dillon/Ziggy, Doctor K/Tenaya
Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or anything related to the franchise.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
The Tainted and the Broken
Chapter 7
Dillon woke up to the feeling of the warmth next to him disappearing. He shifted restlessly, sliding his eyes open just slightly. For a moment he couldn't quite remember where he was, and then he caught sight of the figure across the room. Ziggy was curled up in his window seat, which allowed the light of the rising sun to shine in. His arms were crossed over his knees as if he was trying to curl into a ball and his eyes were locked on the sunrise. He frowned at the lonely, distant and unreachable image his best friend created. "Ziggy?" he whispered.
The boy turned back to him. "Morning Dillon." he greeted solemnly. Dillon pushed himself up, watching as the orange and red light of the sun glinted off his friend's pale skin. "What are you doing up?"
Ziggy shrugged slightly, leaning his head on the glass next to him. "Thinking." he whispered. "So much has changed." There was a sad note to his voice and he once again turned his head back to stare out the window. Dillon sighed, resting his hands on his knees. "Ziggy..."
"Please don't start." Ziggy told him. "I know what you're going to say and I've heard it all before." He looked over at him, his eyes shadowed and dark. He pushed himself off the ledge, walking towards him. Dillon wasn't entirely sure what to expect as he did so but he allowed the boy to approach. Ziggy laid a hand on his shoulder, his gaze slightly concerned. "Go back to sleep Dillon." he whispered. "You look like you need it."
Dillon let him push him down, surprised by the silent strength of his movements. "What about you?" he asked. A wave of tiredness washed over him and he had to fight to keep his eyes open. As they slid down he could just make out Ziggy's weak but amused smile. His words were faded as he whispered, "Not yet Dillon."
---
When he woke up, he was alone. He stood and walked out quickly, blinking against the harsh light filtering in through the window in the garage. The entire building was near empty. He frowned slightly, walking into the only room he hadn't checked. Kat's lab was also empty but a door he had never noticed before was open on the far wall. He walked towards it, gently nudging it open.
The room was round and was empty except from the semi-circle table resting on a raised platform. He spotted Ziggy sitting in the seat directly across from door, talking heatedly with an old man sitting next to him. The man looked tired, with a worn expression and age-lines. But Dillon recognized the dark blue uniform he was wearing, the familiar brown eyes.
Colonel Truman.
The military leader of Corinth was so much different than he remembered. He looked very tired and his eyes had the same defeated light that Ziggy's had, it just wasn't as carefully hidden. The loss of his last son had obviously taken its toll on him.
Ziggy stopped talking suddenly, his eyes flickering over to him. "Good morning, Dillon." he greeted.
Truman turned towards him and a glint of anger lit up his dark brown eyes for a single moment. Then... nothing. There was no hate, no heat, nothing that he had expected. It seemed that after all this time, after all the hardship, Colonel Truman had lost even the energy to hate the person that had taken his son away from him.
Ziggy stood, turning his attention away from Truman. "You slept in." Ziggy informed him. "It's nearly 1300."
He shrugged slightly. "Guess I needed the sleep. What's going on?"
"We were just discussing ways to enhance the city shield. Tenaya believes that if we can shift the shield to the proper frequency, it can be used as a weapon." Ziggy told him calmly, moving away from the table and Colonel Truman. Dillon leaned against the doorway, watching his friend with a raised eyebrow. "You can do that?" he asked.
Colonel Truman spoke up, his voice deep but weary. "Miss Seven believes we can. But it would take a massive amount of work and we simply do not have the resources to complete the work."
Ziggy turned to him, exasperation in every line of his body, making Dillon wonder how long they'd been having this argument. "Those are resources my team can easily obtain if given the chance." he snapped.
"But the work, Mr. Grover, would leave the shield down for an extended period of time. Time that we also do not have. I do not know what exactly you are trying to accomplish here but I will not allow your suicidal tendencies to threaten this city." Truman snapped back, standing up to meet Ziggy's cutting stare. Dillon was impressed. He had been faced with that stare before and had had a hard time meeting it every time. Truman had apparently gained a resistance to its effects.
The Green Ranger straightened, throwing his shoulders back as a hard expression slid across his face. He was suddenly the leader he had claimed himself to be. And Dillon had to admit, that it was a frightening image. "I am trying to end this war, Colonel." Ziggy said, his voice clear, without inflection. There was more in his tone, something that made people stand straight and listen to him. "You want to wait Venjix out but we both no that's not going to happen. He has the world's resources at his finger tips; he is not going anywhere anytime soon. We are." He paused then continued, less heat in his voice, more sadness. "We are winning the war Colonel, but we are losing every battle. Any progress we have made so far has been made with blood. And the city, these people, they know that."
"People can't just live Colonel." Ziggy whispered. "They have to live for something."
Truman sighed, sitting down heavily. "It is a bad plan. But you are right. We can not afford to loose anymore people." He looked away, admitting defeat. "If your team can acquire the materials needed then... you may go ahead with Miss Seven's plan."
A grateful smile curved Ziggy's lips for the briefest of moments before it disappeared. "Thank you Colonel." He said as he nodded. The Colonel stood up and nodded to the both of them. Dillon watched as they exchanged goodbyes, surprisingly pleasant despite the heated argument they had just had. He waited until the man had left before he approached, coming to stand next to his shoulder. "That was interesting."
"I hate politics." Ziggy muttered. "I normally let Kat handle it."
Dillon snorted in amusement. "Where is Kat? Where's everyone for that matter?"
Ziggy shifted to look up at him, a thoughtful look on his face. "Gem and Gemma are out playing with shift 4 and Kat and Tenaya are..." he trailed off, his eyes glazing over. Dillon frowned at him, watching as his expression turned distant. After a minute his eyes cleared and he returned to normal. "They're out on a date, I guess you could say."
"Good for them." Dillon said. "What do we do?" he asked.
Ranger Green smiled slightly, shaking his head. "I have to work on the plans for the shield. You are going to sit around and do absolutely nothing."
---
Dillon swirled the chair he was sitting in, watching as Ziggy typed rapidly on Kat's computer. "You sure you should be messing with that?" he asked for the fifth time in that hour. Ziggy looked up, giving him an irritated look. "Yes I'm sure." he hissed. "Now shut up and let me work."
He smirked slightly as the boy returned to the project he was working on. Two years ago, Kat would never have let him anywhere near her computers. Now Ziggy moved around them like he owned them. It was an interesting sight. He stood, walking over to his friend. He stopped behind him, noticing how tight his muscles were. "You're really tense." he whispered, dropping his hands onto Ziggy's shoulders. Ziggy froze for a minute then kept working. Dillon's smirk widened. "Are you ignoring me?" he asked.
No response.
He shook his head, pushing his fingers into the tense muscles in Ziggy's shoulders. The boy shifted slightly but let him do it. Smiling slightly, Dillon pushed his thumbs upward, letting them brush the skin at the nape of his neck. His smile immediately disappeared, replaced by a frown as he gently fingered the rough skin collected there. He pushed Ziggy's long hair aside, staring at the scar printed into the back of Ziggy's neck. "What’s this?" he asked.
Ziggy paused again then brought one of his hands up to brush over the scar. "Its old." he muttered. "Not important."
His jaw tightened and he gripped Ziggy's shoulders. "What's it from, Ziggy?"
The Green Ranger sighed and glanced at him from over his shoulder. "Do you remember that necklace in my room? The one next to your watch?" he asked. Dillon frowned, picturing the ball-bearing wolf chain in his mind. Ziggy nodded. "Yeah that one." he whispered, his tone sad. He looked back down at the computer as Dillon focused, realizing the chain of the necklace would fit into the scar perfectly. "It was a present. You got it for me." Ziggy told him. "I never took it off. When you lost to the virus, you ripped it off my neck, so hard it left a scar."
He frowned slightly, staring at him. There was a sad, wistful smile on his face, making him wonder what he was thinking about. He didn't know why but he leaned down, pressing his lips gently against the scar. Ziggy froze again. When Dillon pulled away he dropped his head back, staring up at him with wide eyes. After a minute of them staring at each other, Ziggy smiled softly. "Thank you." he whispered. Dillon smiled down at him and nodded.
---
Dillon frowned slightly when he heard the soft music echoing out from the garage. He walked towards it, listening to the beautiful harmony. The music was dominated by a violin and what he thought could be a harp. There weren’t any lyrics, just a woman's voice echoing the melody. He entered the garage to see Ziggy working on his car in the same way he'd seen Gem do once. However, the music was defiantly coming from Gemma's silver Infiniti. "Didn't think this was your kind of music." he told him.
Ziggy glanced over at him, not seeming terribly surprised to see him standing there. "Its not." he answered. "But my music will just make my headache worse."
"What's wrong?" he asked, walking over to him. Ziggy shrugged. "It’s just a headache. It's called a physic backlash. Happens if I'm not careful with my telepathy." he told him. Dillon sighed slightly, turning to look at the numbers flying down the screen. "What are you working on now?" he asked.
"The shifts." Ziggy told him, turning back. "They're very important on missions like this."
He hummed slightly, still not knowing enough about the information to make use of it. "I see." he muttered, hearing Ziggy snort in amusement. "I'll be riding with you, right?"
Ziggy paused, looking up at him. He sighed in annoyance. "I'm coming Ziggy."
"That is, not a risk I can take." Ziggy told him, trying to turn back to his computer. Dillon growled, grabbing his shoulders and spinning him around. "Explain it to me." he hissed, making the younger man back up until he hit the car door. Ziggy took a deep breath, his eyes slightly wider than normal. "What if the other you is there Dillon?" he asked. "I can tell you apart on sight but the others can't. If you come along and he's there, how are they going to be able to tell you two apart? What if they think you're him and attack you? What if... they think he's you?"
Dillon closed his eyes and pulled away. "I can't take that risk with their lives." Ziggy whispered. "I'm sorry. Any other situation, I'd gladly have you by my side."
He sighed heavily, turning away from him and placing his head against the cool metal of the roof of Ziggy's car. The Green Ranger's hand fell onto his shoulder. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked. He nodded tightly. "I'm just tired."
"How? You slept through the entire morning." Ziggy commented. Dillon turned his head to look at his friend. Ziggy stared back at him, his gaze concerned. "You want to go to bed?" he asked. He shook his head. "Maybe later." he whispered.
Ziggy looked like he was going to say something but before he could a dark violet Lotus Evora rolled into the garage. Ziggy pulled back, turning to watch as Kat and then Tenaya stepped out. The Violet Ranger smiled at them. "What’s going on?" she asked.
"I've got a headache, Dillon's tired, and we're going out tonight." Ziggy told them. Tenaya smiled. "Cool."
---
Dillon watched from the sidelines as the team got ready, unable to shake the feeling that he should be going with them. Kat was fussing over Tenaya, Gem was fussing over Gemma, Tenaya and Gemma were rolling their eyes, and Ziggy was next to him watching it all in amusement.
Kat pulled back, looking up at Tenaya with wide eyes. "Be careful okay?" she requested. Tenaya nodded, leaning forward to press a passionate kiss to the doctor's lips. Dillon smiled slightly, turning away from the display to stare at his friend. "Do I have to tell you that?" he asked.
Ziggy looked up at him. "You can. I doubt it will do any good, but you can." he told him. Dillon smirked slightly, shaking his head. "Go." he ordered.
The Green Ranger smiled slightly before gathering his team together. Dillon followed the group out to their cars, watching as they climbed in. "Ziggy." he called. The man paused, looking over at him. "Be careful." he requested.
Ziggy smiled slightly again and nodded. "I always am."
---
Two hours later and they still weren't back. Kat had kicked him out of her lab about an hour into the mission, leaving him to worriedly pace the length of the garage. He sighed, running a hand through his hair and ordering himself to stop thinking. They'd be back. Eventually. He hoped.
He stopped when a wave of dizziness crashed over him and groaned, pressing his hands to his eyes. Maybe he should have taken that nap. He slid open his eyes, not removing his hands, and gasped slightly when he realized he could see straight through his palms. He pulled his hands away quickly, staring at them. And through them. He was fading away.
He quickly turned and hurried back into Kat's lab. "Kat!" he shouted. The woman looked up at him, annoyance in her eyes. "Yes Dillon?" she asked irritably. "We've got a problem." he told her.
Before he could say anything else, another wave of dizziness crashed over him. He winced, bracing himself against the desk. Kat stood up quickly, walking over to him. "Dillon? Are you okay?" she asked.
He shook his head, his vision blurring. His knees buckled and he let himself crash to the floor. The last thing he heard was Kat's worried shout of his name before he fainted.
Then... nothing.
Chapter 8