ARROW BERLIN
"Alright," Nicholas begins. "The newest stuff...We have this bad boy," He says showing her a small dropper bottle filled with a clear liquid. Holding her hand out, Nicholas places it in her hand. Upon further inspection, she notices the thickness and the slight shimmers in it.
"It's perfect for subduing them. It's discreet. No color, no smell, no obvious taste - They don't figure it out until it's too late. It's a slow and painful process before it actually knocks them out. Starts with choking, limb paralysis, difficulty breathing, et Cetra. How long they'll be out depends on the dosage. Their bodies would be fighting the effects obviously, but not fast enough. It still knocks them down."
Taking the bottle from her he places another in her hand. This one is more watery than the last, with a slight green tinge to it. "This one is for interrogations. Messes with their heads causes some nasty hallucinations," He explains to her, Arrow hearing tones of excitement in his voice. "With this, all you have to do is whisper a few ideas into their head and watch as their fears magnify tenfold. It's amazing."
"Then there's this," Nicholas starts again showing her a small round pill. "Ingested if possible but under the tongue is good enough for it to take effect. It completely paralyzes them. When I say completely I mean it. the effects take place on a cellular level. Doesn't wear off and is non-reversible. Doesn't cause any pain but at the same time it does, know what I mean?!"
"Then what? You kill them after that?" Arrow asks watching as he puts the pill back into a container.
"Lycans long to shift and run in the woods like the wild animals they are. They feel restless if they don't get a chance to walk on their paws for long periods of time. This...this tiny little pill, is the perfect against them," Nicholas says holding up the container. "In a way, this is the closest thing to a cure. No shifting equals no Lycan. An end to Lycanthropy, truly."
Arrow remains quiet, watching as he places the container down and grabs what looks like a perfume bottle. "Moving on, we have this. Spray it in a room, give it a minute to disperse, and then watch as all the Lycans around you reveal themselves. To you and me, it doesn't even have a smell. But it irritates them, attacks their senses, especially smell - Almost like a major allergy attack. They'd be desperate to get away from it. Some are smarter and have more control than others obviously, but a slight scrunch of the nose, or a look to see where the smell is coming from - Even a cough, is enough to let us know."
"And last but certainly not least," Nicholas says moving on, grabbing another dropper bottle - This one filled with a shimmery silver liquid. "It has fine silver in it," He says holding it up to the light in the room.
"Silver? I'm guessing that one's lethal?" Arrow says watching the bottle.
"Yup. Dosages determine how long it takes but the longest time is about six minutes," Nicholas replies. "For the regular Lycans, you're used to anyway. For the new ones that are drugged up to the max, a high dose of this would help get us close enough to take its head off"
"Who created all these?" Arrow asks curiously.
"Your uncle and Simeon I guess," Nicholas replies with a shrug.
"Simeon?"
"The new head of the lab your uncle brought in," He explains to her. "You know, I could write out a dosage sheet for you. If you want."
"Sure," Arrow replies, half distracted.
"I'll even test you. Give you a gold star if you get all right," Nicholas says to her with a straight face.
"Funny," Arrow replies with an eye roll. "What else is there?"
Hearing a chime from his phone, he pulls out the device instead of answering, a smile appearing on his face as he stared at the screen. "Now, we have a trip to interrogation," He answers happily.
"Why?"
"To watch me interrogate a Lycan, darling! Why else?" He answers, his tone heavy with sarcasm and annoyance.
"I've interrogated before. There's no need for me to watch you," Arrow answers back.
Nicholas doesn't reply, instead watching her with a raised brown and skeptical look on his face.
"What?!" Arrow asks with a groan, growing tired of him more and more by the minute.
"I don't doubt that you have...It's just... I don't think your methods will get you anywhere today." He answers finally.
"Meaning?" Arrow asks folding her arms across her chest.
"Like I said, Arrow. You left and now you're soft. Perhaps if you'd stayed and evolved with the organization...I wouldn't even question your capabilities. Anyway, come along. Watch how we do interrogations now. And you'll also get to the poison's work in real-time."
"Look, buddy-" Arrow begins but Nicholas cuts her off with a groan.
"Listen. The way you used to do things is over and done. This is the new era of hunting. What I'm telling you... what I'm showing you! ALL THIS! This is now. And you need to catch up or go left behind. You aren't the little princess anymore. People will see you as weak and they'll find ways to get you out."
~
At her house, in her favorite oversized t-shirt and leggings, Arrow begins the process of packing up her belongings - Her mind, however, is miles away replaying the incidents of the day.
Nicholas' interrogation consisted of more torture than question-asking. Arrow could admit to herself that interrogations usually got physical, but what she witnessed today felt as if it'd cross a line.
Hearing a knock at her door she goes to answer it, revealing Ezra with two large bags in his hands. "Hope you're hungry sunshine," He says, walking into her home. " I've got Chinese food, dessert, and enough snacks to last you till next week."
A small smile graces Arrow's face as she shuts the door and turns to him.
"So how did things go?" Ezra asks conversationally as he begins to unpack the many boxes of food.
"Today was..." She trails off in thought before finishing her sentence with "eye-opening."
~
JENSEN CARTER
The sharp pinching sensation in his arm helps Jensen to focus his senses as he slowly comes to. The strong smells of hospital disinfectant and coffee reaching his nose. Though his eyes remain shut, the lights around him still cause a stabbing pain to travel through his head. Jensen lets out a groan, hearing a sudden shuffling near him. "He's waking," He hears a familiar voice call out, the shout adding to his headache.
"You gone wake up man?" He hears the voice say softly to him, his brain registering that it was Dalton speaking to him. Jensen wanted to wake then and there, but his body did not allow it - Slowly plunging him back into darkness.
~
This time, as Jensen slowly comes too, he feels the soft caresses of fingertips along the side of his face. His body ached significantly less and there was no stabbing pain behind his eyelids.
"Yeah? Cause I kind of got the sense that you don't like them?" He hears a female voice speak softly beside him. Naomi, he recognizes.
"It's not that I don't like them...It's just..." He hears Dalton begin to respond but doesn't finish his sentence, letting out a loud sigh instead.
"Complicated?" Naomi's voice teases in response, to which Dalton lets out a huff.
Summoning his strength, Jensen opens his eyes with a groan, getting the two's attention. He blinks a couple of times for his eyes to adjust to the light. "Hey," Naomi gasps out in relief, a smile on her face.
"It's about damn time you woke up my friend!" Dalton comments walking to his bedside.
"You remember anything?" Dalton asks as he helps Jensen sit up.
"Yeah. Up until I passed out." He responds.
"You had me worried," Naomi pipes in softly. "I'm so glad you're okay."
"I'm okay. It'll take a little more than that to keep me down," He reassures her. "Dalton call you?" He asks curiously.
"Nah, work brought me here and I bumped into Dalton," She answers, Jensen, watching her expression change as she mentioned work.
"What went on at work?"
"I'll fill you in later...you on the other hand, just woke up. How are you feeling?" She replies.
"Not as bad as you'd think."
"Hmm...I should go get the doc," Naomi states before heading out of the room.
"Clayton and Yara are here too, they went down to the cafeteria. Should be back in a minute." Dalton tells him.
"Fill me in," Jensen demands with a sigh.
"Well, first, doctors think they gave you a minute dosage. It's how you're awake and alert so soon. Clayton took your phone and called me," Dalton begins, "Told me what was going down and where to meet you guys - There were too many for him to take alone. when I got there he was already fighting the hunters... in his Lycan form."
"Shit! He shifted?!" Jensen exclaims.
Dalton nods in response before continuing, "I got in the fight, then Yara arrived and put some bullets in the rest of them. We brought you here, doctors were out of their element here but they managed to fix you up a little. Bumped into Naomi, she went back to work then back here - 'Bout half an hour before you woke up actually." Dalton sums up just as the doctor enters the room. Clayton and Yara entering the room behind him.
~
Watching the doctor leave after his assessment, Jensen turns to Clayton, "Dalton tells me you shifted?" He begins, his statement sounding more like a question.
Clayton lets out a sigh, "Yes, and as I said to Yara twenty times today, It's fine!"
Jensen nods, deciding not to push the topic further. He knew Clayton did what was necessary - And wouldn't have done it if it was too dangerous.
"Are all the hunters dead?" Jensen asks.
"We assume so."
"What about the bodies?"
"Taken care of."
"Any clue why we were targeted?"
"Turns out that's what hunters are doing these days. Attacking any and every Lycan they come across," Dalton answers.
"You're kidding," Jensen says in surprise.
"He's not. These hunters are getting out of control. Tares is hardly safe anymore." Yara responds.
"We'll get back to that in a minute," Yara begins to say, interrupting the silence they were falling into. "Now that I know you're okay..."
"Ouch! Yara?!" Jensen exclaims as Yara returns her fist to her side.
Using his other hand, Jensen rubs the area she'd just punched whilst glaring at her.
"How could you not tell me about your little girlfriend? Your little human girlfriend!!" She scowls raising her fist to hit him again.
"Okay, okay. Once was enough! Message received! I'm still healing here, you know," Jensen says to her in a rush holding up his hands in surrender.
"I can not believe you kept her from me," Yara continues, folding her arms instead.
"Where is she, anyway?" Dalton comments looking out the door.
"Talking to her brother's doctor." Yara fills in.
"What happened to her brother?"
"I invited her over for lunch. I'll set the day as soon as the doctors discharge you," Yara says casually, catching Jensen's attention. "A sort of double date."
"A double date?" Jensen repeats his eye landing on Clayton who shrugs in response.
"Yes, because you tell me nothing. It takes you getting poisoned for me to meet her. And that was only by chance! She already agreed so you can't back out." Yara replies with a satisfied smile.
"Did she really?" Dalton asks skeptically.
"Well she didn't say no."
"Did you even give her the chance to decline?" Clayton teases with a chuckle.
"I think we're getting off track here," Dalton comments, slight amusement in his tone.
"Are we? What else is there to discuss? You heard the doctor, a day or two and Jensen will be one hundred percent again. The dose wasn't enough to cause any long-term damage. We handled all the hunters. There isn't anything we could do about the situation. We just have to be more careful when we go out. Watch our backs." Clayton answers.
"That's no way to live," Dalton adds softly with a sigh.
"It's the way the hunters are making us live."
"It was never so, bad...before."
"That was before...This is now."
~
Having managed to send everyone else home, Jensen and Naomi sit side by side on his hospital bed - Half of Naomi's body leaning on him due to the small space, his hand propped up above her head.
He watches as she distractedly plays with the cord of his IV, her mind far away in thought. "I know you're a paramedic and all, but I would prefer you don't yank that cord out my arm," He jokes lightly, getting her attention.
A small smile briefly graces her features but Jensen could tell she was still distracted.
"What's on your mind?" He asks softly.
My brother," She answers sadly - Snuggling more into his side, "Avery and Sean explained how turning works a while back. It seems like Kai is going through all of it ten times as fast. The thing that scratched him isn't normal in the Lycan world, everything he's going through is practically uncharted territory. I keep thinking that... if I'd told him about Lycans sooner he would be more open to letting me help him. Or talking to Sean."
Before Jensen could say anything, her phone lights up with a text message which he reads over her as she stares at the screen.
'I need to work this out on my own. I'm turning off my phone. I'll call you when I'm ready. Don't contact me and don't try to find me.'
Naomi lets out a stressed sigh as Jensen wraps an arm around her. "What the hell am I to do?" She mumbles.