"First..." Stryker says. "I'm gonna give you something you lost a long...long time ago."
"You mean a little over 40 years ago."
"Exactly." Stryker smiles. "It'll be somewhat painful, but you'll thank me."
"If you have any idea of what I've been through." I say. "Then you'll know that I know exactly what pain is. What is it that you want to give me?"
"Well..." He smirks. "What did you lose when you were ending Aston?"
"A friend."
"No." He pauses. "Well, besides that-if he was ever really your friend."
"He was mine. I wasn't his."
"Come on," Stryker says. "What else did you lose besides a friend?"
Then I realize what he's thinking of. My eyes widen.
"That's not..." I start.
"Not possible?" He laughs. "Oh yes it is." He pauses. "Aston developed a back-up serum."
"Why?"
"Who knows or even cares? All that matters is that we have it and want to use it."
"Why me?"
"Because you know how to deal with them more than anybody else." He pauses. "So will you do it?"
I hesitate. "Fine."
"This might hurt."
"I've felt it before."
"Okay then." Stryker turns to the doctor. "Go ahead."
He walks to the door and the doctor turns to me, then sticks the needle in my back.
The familiar stinging begins in the same spots on my back but this time, since I know what to expect, I scream less and they come out of my back faster.
I see the familiar white feathers out of the corner of my eye and I spring up into the air.
Finally.
They're back.
----
Wow! Sooooo dramatic!
Yup, I know, another short chapter. Next one's going to be longer, I promise :)
