Prophecy: Tome of Skin

16. A Light at the End

"Good luck with that, handsome, we've tried having this conversation already, remember? There is nothing we can do that will end it once and for all, I say just keep doing what we're doing-besides, Austin's been unstoppable lately, he hasn't even been having any of those side effects after using his powers, I think he might've finally gotten it under control." Dill shrugged. It was true, in the recent battles Austin had been able to seamlessly use his demon powers without repercussion, though that didn't sit well with everyone. Someone in particular, anyways.

"We can't keep relying on that." It was Toby, naturally. "That's not a fix, it's just the precursor to another problem. For his sake too, as well as everyone else's, we need to take care of this."

"Maybe I could possess one, you know, take over its body and use it to destroy the others," Percy got excited as she thought the idea through. Once she had really started to consider her new powers she had begun to feel a little better about her condition.

"Not a bad idea," Austin shrugged as he came in, ringing the little bell over the door. "But I think I have a better one. And thanks for the vote of confidence, Toby, duly noted."

"That wasn't how I meant it and you know it." There was a little bite to Toby's voice, but mostly it was passive, and he viewed the unusual bag that their latecomer had thrown over his shoulder, wondering about it. "What've you got?"

"The answer." The response that Austin gave was short, matter of fact, and he took the bag off and set it on the table for them all to see. One by one the others all looked to Toby, their undisputed leader, and waited for him to do the honors. With a roll of his eyes he pulled apart the cloth, looking within to see what it contained. In confusion he lifted out a vial, just one of the numerous ones that were held within.

"What is it?" Percy wondered, wishing she could hold the dusty purple liquid in her own hand. It was beautiful, that much they could all agree on, but they also knew better than to trust anything that was created in a lab.

"It's the vaccine. What's in that bag there is the only thing that can stop the super soldiers. The serum that they've been created with, the source of all their power, was grafted from my blood, and out my blood we've finally managed to create the formula to counteract it-there it is." Austin sat down while the room lit up with excitedly confused murmurs, awestruck by the simplicity of the logic, by the easy answer they had been provided. Yet there was always room for skepticism.

"We?" Toby had listened to the revelation with keen interest, and he had picked up on one thing in particular. Sure, he knew that his lover was incredibly bright, but not exactly gifted in the sciences. Clearly he must've had help, and that was exactly what he'd inadvertently confirmed.

"Let's try to focus on what's important-taking care of the super soldiers, once and for all, just like you said. This is what you wanted, right?" With one look Austin made it clear that he had no intention of further explaining. Toby knew when to give up, so he turned his attention back to the batch of vaccine, examining the vile he still held in his hand. He considered that maybe he should just take the win, not worry so much. After all, there would be plenty of time to put all the pieces into place later, but for right now he had the tools to ease the burden on the man that he loved. That was worth the risk.

But risks weren't always worth taking, a lesson that Stephanie had learned the hard way. She was just returning from her leave of absence-the forced time off that Monica made her take after learning of the information she'd withheld. What that really meant was that she had her thrown into a holding cell, a small, dark space with no light and strange smells. Maybe that wouldn't have been so bad, seeing as Stephanie had only thought she'd been forgotten about after a long while, but Monica was cruel enough to make her execute her sentence without the most important thing to her-her charm.