A Complicated Web

Chapter Sixty One: All A Lie?

The teen couldn't help but stare in shock. Dr. Bosch's being nice was all an act? His caring? His everything? It was all just a ploy? But why go to such extremes?

"I'm not sure just how much was an act," Loki confessed. "There are some truths you should know. I discovered them after doing some digging. He did have some children who suffered adverse reactions to some experiments with teseract energy that went horribly wrong. And those children did die. Perhaps that gave Ms. Kendrick the idea of having him sympathize with you, because those children were also hers."

"What?!" The word escaped Hiro's lips before he could even think about saying it. But what about all the strange little murmurings he'd heard from the doctor? What about the cold way he and Ms. Kendrick treated each other? Was it all a lie?

Loki couldn't help but notice the distress on Hiro's face. "I was disinclined to believe it at first as well," he assured. "But there is no doubt. He found her several years ago while still working at a less secure facility. She'd been left for dead and he brought her back to life. They fell in love and had two children. But while she was pregnant, he was instructed by his superiors to subjugate her to several different tests, including exposure to teseract radiation, in the hopes of manipulating the fetuses of their twins. The radiation mutated her and killed the unborn offspring."

Hiro wanted to be sick. Just what kind of people were they, willing to use their own family as science experiments? It was just wrong on so many levels.

"As far as I could discover, the mutation merely changed her bone structure," Loki continued on, mentally calling up the medical reports he'd found. "It also destroyed any further chances of her having any children. From the psych evaluations I found, it seems to have affected him more than it did her, which might be why he had his moments of hesitation. But in the end, his love for her, and his loyalty to Hydra pushed him to betray your trust. He allowed his medics to give Kally fertility hormones so they could extract her eggs, hoping her and your DNA would result in success where theirs had failed. It helped, apparently, that you seem to emit a similar kind of energy as the teseract does. They assumed it would mean greater success."

There was a low kind of buzzing at the back of Hiro's brain that seemed to make it fog up. Loki's words barely penetrated when he mentioned how the original schedule had been moved up with Dr. Bosch confessing to the escape plans and the timetable planned. If that hadn't made it to Ms. Kendrick's ears, the procedure wouldn't have happened for another couple of days, to maximize their chances of harvesting viable eggs.

"I do think there were times he was in earnest about helping you escape," Loki confessed, not missing the expression on Hiro's face. "And had it not been for Ms. Kendrick, he might have done it. Then again, maybe not. He struck me as a viper in a rabbit den, but those types are often good at disguising themselves to the point that it's hard to tell until it's too late. One thing I can give you as comfort, he didn't tell Ms. Kendrick who I am. If he had, we would be in a lot more trouble than we already are now."

Hiro gasped, trying to push past the lump in his throat. "Does Kally . . ." He had to swallow. "Does Kally know about any of this?" His brain was slowly starting to try and clear the fog, though it was persistent. It wasn't the first time he'd been betrayed, but the stakes were higher than any other time something like that had happened.

Loki shook his head. "No, and I don't intend to tell her. I think it's better that way. After all, she's had too many heartbreaks, don't you think?"

Images of all his attempts to save his brother flashed before Hiro's eyes and he couldn't help but let out a sound of anguish. He knew what it felt like to be lost, to feel betrayed, even if it was by circumstances and not people. He'd been played too many times before and could only agree with Loki. Kally didn't need to share his pain. Speaking of pain, he could feel the painkillers wearing off and it hurt.