Cale's entire body was on fire. His head throbbed with each cramp that seized his body. He hadn't known where he was or who the people standing over him had been.
He only knew that they hadn't been the one with what he needed, the one with the syringe, the one who could bring back his clan and stop all of the pain, if only for a short time.
Anyone who wasn't that person was in the way. He stopped to check his bearings and then trudged on.
******
Alex and Dr. Dewey lay prone on the floor of the carriage house apartment.
Alex recovered first and sat up. "Dr. Dewey, are you okay?"
"Alex? What happened?" Dr. Dewey held his head and pulled himself up to a sit as well.
"It was Cale. He woke up crazy, caught me by surprise, and knocked me out. You, too, I guess. I have to find him. I'll search all the way to Hermann's lab. Tell Gabe and Rile what happened when they get back." Alex shot out the door before Dr. Dewey could object.
Does Cale know the way to the lab, especially in his condition? Or will he stumble around until he's discovered?
Alex neared the lab and slowed her flight, praying that she wasn't too late. She circled over the entire brick complex before she spotted Cale on the back loading dock.
His golden-green hide stood out against the concrete walls, a contrast to the elegant front of the buildings.
She dove for him, too intent to see the two men in the doorway.
One drew a bead on her with a strange looking gun. Alex's last impression was of electricity arcing around her before crash-landing.
******
Gabe found Rile sitting on the levee near Café Du Monde. He had cooled off via a combination of exercise and fatigue.
Gabe sat next to him and they watched the muddy Mississippi River flow by. They listened to the last notes of the calliope of the paddleboat Natchez.
"Ready to return?" Gabe asked at length and Rile nodded.
It was late when they returned to Alex's. The atmosphere was grim as Dr. Dewey explained what happened.
"I think Cale returned to the laboratory," Dr. Dewey said. "Alex is backtracking there. I waited for you to return to tell you."
"But why would he go there? They imprisoned him and gave him drugs . . . oh, I see." Gabe fell silent, looking troubled.
"What? Are you saying Cale went back for more drugs?" Rile jumped to his feet, angry. "You don't know Cale. He would never! He has never even drunk enough wine to suffer winehead the next morning."
"His mind is not his own," Dr. Dewey said.
"Off to Hermann's lab," Rile said.
"I agree," Gabe replied.
*****
Alex woke with the sense that something was wrong. It wasn't that she hurt. It was that she didn't. She knew her face should hurt. She touched it experimentally, checking if it was injured. Then she realized that she was also abnormally calm upon waking.
Where's the confusion? The panic?Jagged cuts from my rough landing are there, why don't they hurt?
She pushed herself up and looked out and saw she was in an all too familiar place. Across from her cage, she could see Cale in his own. Two white-coated men bent over him. When they stood up, Alex could see the flash of a hypodermic needle.
Anger welled in her and without thinking, she blasted the glass screen. The energy spattered uselessly into a million sparks.
The men looked at her in smug amusement. One said something to the other who walked over to the screen.
She glared at him and pounded on the screen. She didn't hear the soft 'thock' of the tranquilizer gun, but she couldn't ignore the pin-prick of the striking dart. Too late she pulled it from her side and slid to the ground.
Remember Dr. Dewey's talk about my powers. Counteract this stuff.
*****
"We've searched every science building on the campus and not a sign of Hermann's lab," Rile said. He walked the perimeter of the roof for the tenth time.
"He must have one. We're fortunate it's Sunday and no one's around." Gabe scanned over the campus. "There's someone in a white coat."
"He's heading into this building. We haven't checked it since it's marked 'Utility'." Rile dug his claws into the concrete wall and climbed down the side of the building.
At the last instant, Rile dropped the last ten feet. He caught the edge of the door with a single claw, a split second before it shut. The white-coated man never looked back.
Rile motioned for his brother to hurry and follow him. Once inside, they faced an enormous maze of hallways.
"Do we split up?" Rile looked eager to explore.
"No. We stay together and that's final. I'm in no mood to argue and in even less of a mood to lose another brother," Gabe said.
They passed the same labs that Alex had found uninteresting on her tour.
"Over here." Gabe's whisper was urgent. "This is the one." He ran his fingers over the armored door. "I can barely see through this safety glass, but this is the grandfather of all labs. This is a digital lock."
"Yeah, yeah." Rile withdrew his staff. "Give me a second."
"Brute force won't work against a digital lock." Gabe grabbed Rile's wrist before he could smash the lock. "I hate to admit it, but we need Robert's help."
"Not that jerk." Rile took a deep breath, then, before Gabe could stop him, crushed the lock with his staff.
Bits of plastic and steel flew in all directions. A low wail built up to a deafening shriek.
"Alarm. Good job, genius." Gabe tugged on the door. "And it's still locked."
Running footsteps echoed down the hall. Gabe took off, Rile in close pursuit. They skidded around a corner, only to see someone pushing a cart. Rile yanked Gabe through a fire escape door.
"Do you never watch TV?" Rile whispered furiously. "Do you not know what an exit is?"
The alarm from the fire door shrieked, boosting their mad dash across the green university lawn and into the concrete alley.
"Now I suppose we beg for help," Rile complained.
"Since your plan turned out so well," Gabe fixed him with a stern look. "We know Robert works here, but we don't know where he lives."
"I do." Rile couldn't help but look smug. "Amazing what a girl will tell you during It Came From Outer Space, isn't it?" His brother's annoyed expression fueled his satisfaction. "Did you not know that we watched old movies together? Or that she tells me things she doesn't tell you?"
"Shut up. You haven't had time to watch a movie with Alex. To Robert's."
"Not the past few nights but we still do. And she still tells me things she doesn't tell you." Rile flicked his tongue out at him.
Gabe ignored him and walked on.
*****
Once at Robert's building, Rile kicked in the back door of Robert's apartment. The apartment was empty.
"Rile, we want him to help us." Gabe shut the door on its remaining hinge.
"Yeah, yeah." Rile riffled through a stack of papers on the coffee table.
"Put everything back where you find it. We don't want to look like burglars," Gabe said wearily.
"I doubt he'll mistake us for the average thief. He could see Cale's true face."
"Cale was unconscious. Anybody could." Gabe wandered over to the phone table and looked at the collection of papers stuffed there. "Alex Robertson," he read off a slip of paper. "That's the fake name she used for her latest temp bookstore job."
*****
Two hours later they were terminally bored. Rile watched TV while Gabe paced the apartment.
"Sweet mother of Linnaeus!" Robert shouted at the sight in his apartment.
They jumped at the voice. The voice's owner jumped as well.
"I should have known something was up after the alarm sounded at the lab."
"Robert, I presume?" Gabe approached him like he was a small, scared animal. "We won't hurt you."
The tall, skinny man walked over to him and inspected him like a rare stamp. "Amazing," he said to himself. "You can talk. You are intelligent. I knew it. Even before Alex told me." He rubbed his hands together in satisfaction.
"We're intelligent all right. Intelligent enough to know that you have our brother. We want him back. Now," Rile hissed.
Robert blinked. "I was taken off the case right after Alex and I stole it. I mean, rescued your brother."
"We're friends of Alex's. Can you help us rescue our brother again?"
"Where is Alex?" Robert looked around.
"We haven't seen her since Cale disappeared. She's looking for him, too. She thinks he went back to Hermann's lab." Gabe said. "But she doesn't answer her cell phone and I'm worried about her."
"Cale? Oh yes, that is what she called it. I hope she isn't . . . no, even he wouldn't . . . he couldn't . . . no, not to a human being . . ." Robert mused, mumbling to himself.
"Well? Will you help us?" Rile demanded.
"Of course. It was you who tried to break in earlier, wasn't it?"
Gabe glared at Rile. "Sort of."
"It's a good thing," Robert said.
Rile smiled.
"I was with Dr. Hermann when the alarms rang. It was the perfect alibi. He returned my ID card. I can access the lab again."
Rile flicked his tongue out again at Gabe. "I won't say I told you so but I will say I informed you thusly. Let's go." Rile opened the back door.
Robert held up his hands."I know I can enter, but I can't smuggle two giant humanoid dragons."
"Don't worry about us. We slipped in once unobserved, we can do it again."
"Good. My car's over here." Robert walked out the back door Rile was holding open. "What happened to my door?"
****
Once in the car, Rile leaned forward from the back seat to hiss in Robert's ear, "What were your plans with Alex?"
"What?" Robert looked shocked.
"Please excuse my brother. He's insane." Gabe shoved Rile back into his seat.
"What is it with you and Alex? She implied Cale was the only one."
"What did she tell you?" Rile hadn't watched all those detective movies for nothing.
"She wasn't clear. She said something about escaping from a lab with Cale where they both were experimented upon. What really happened?"
"That's pretty much it," Gabe said.
"Alex doesn't like or trust men. If that's all she told you, then that's all she wants you to know," Rile added.
Robert contemplated Rile in the rear view mirror.
"Don't you turn here?" Gabe brought Robert's attention back to the road.
They pulled into the parking lot before Robert could ask any more questions. They walked across the campus and into the building without a word, Gabe and Rile close on Robert's heels.
"I hope they didn't change the code," Robert said when he saw the new lock.
"Why would they? Whoever broke it obviously didn't know it," Rile bit off the 'idiot' at the end of his sentence.
Robert's security card and code worked perfectly and they entered the lab. Gabe and Rile scanned the room.
"Last time, they secured him over here." Robert tapped on the keyboard in front of one of the large glass screens.
"Cale!" the brothers cried when the glass lit up.
He barely looked up at the sound of his name. More shocking than his appearance were his blank eyes. No recognition.
"Get him out of there." Gabe stood rigid, clenching and unclenching his fists.
Robert tapped several more keys and the door swung open. Cale made no move toward it. Gabe leapt into the cage, followed by Rile.
"Cale, it's us. Don't you know me?" Gabe approached him with caution.
"Stop fooling around and come home." Rile grabbed his brother's arm, only to have Cale jerk it away.
"What's wrong with him?" Rile asked Robert.
"He's an addict." Alex's voice from the darkness across the room surprised them.
Gabe and Rile turned at its sound, but Cale backed further into his cage.
"He knows the next dose will be any minute and he's not going anywhere," Alex's voice continued.
Robert worked the control panel in front of the cage the voice came from. It lit up to reveal Alex sitting on the floor, knees drawn up to her chest. Physically, she looked worse than Cale, one side of her face bloody, but at least she recognized them.
"You might as well wait until after they give him the next shot. He'll be more coherent then. He'll remember who you are. He remembers me then," she said. "Although he also talks to y'all's father, mother, and a sister named Gale."
"Alex? What have they done to you? Who does Dr. Hermann think he is? He's gone too far this time. Tulane will kick him off staff so fast that his head will spin. I doubt the prison system will support his research," Robert raged as he tapped on the control panel and opened the door to her cage.
Alex didn't move a muscle. "Close the door, Robert." Her voice was weary.
"What? Don't tell me you're on the same stuff."
"As a matter of fact, I am, but it's not what you think. I experimented and counteracted the drug with my powers," Alex said.
"So come out," Robert said.
She shook her head. "After Cale's next dose. It's the best way we can handle him."
"Zap him and let's get out of here," Rile yelled from the other cage.
Alex cocked an eyebrow at him. "Did I hear you correctly, Rile? Weren't you the one who objected to my 'blasting my friends into unconsciousness'?"
"Alex, this is no time to start a fight with my youngest brother, even if you have a point," Gabe said.
"It's not that easy." The sarcasm drained from her voice. "Fighting this drug has taken all my strength. I couldn't zap a bug right now, so hurry and make it look like you've never been here. The tech's coming any minute now."
Reluctantly, Gabe and Rile left Cale's cage. Cale made no move to follow.
"Robert, can you hide them in an office?" Alex asked.
"We're staying. We won't be seen," Gabe said.
"Then I'm staying, too," Robert said.
"Please, Robert." She stood up and walked over to the screen. "We can't risk you. We need you as an insider. Who knows what else Dr. Hermann is planning? Especially since he knows about me as well as Cale. Please?"
In answer, Robert shut down the lights to her cage, then to Cale's. He walked out of the lab with a backward glance.
A few minutes later, the silence was broken by an overly cheerful, "Hi there, ready for another little visit?" The tech lit Cale's cage and held up the syringe for him.
Cale perked up and pressed against the screen.
"There's a good boy," the tech said condescendingly as he injected the willing subject. "I don't need to restrain you anymore for one of these, do I? Enjoy it, big guy, tomorrow's a busy da--aagh!"
His syrupy voice turned into a grunt of pain as Rile punched him squarely in the face. He hit him again and the tech slumped to the floor.
"Rile. Oh, never mind. I wanted to punch him too," Gabe said.
"Me, too." Alex's voice came eerily out of the blank screen. "Unfortunately, Robert's waiting for that tech to leave before coming back. You need to signal him somehow. I don't know where his office is."
Rile opened the armored door. "Yo, Robert," he yelled into the hallway.
"Your usual subtlety," Gabe griped as he tapped on the glass of Cale's cage. His brother sat holding his head and didn't look up.
"I didn't see the tech—oh." Robert hastily closed the door behind him. He bent over the fallen tech and picked up the syringe. He replaced the needle cover, inspected the label, and slipped the syringe into his pocket."Your friend doesn't look much better."
Rile grabbed Robert's arm. "Thanks to you and your science lab thugs."
"Please remember I'm helping you."
"Rile, release him," Gabe said.
Robert rubbed his arm before bending to the keyboard.
"Cale, how are you feeling?" Gabe asked.
"Gabe?" Cale looked up, his face full of confusion. "What? I mean . . . I feel . . . what's going on?"
"We're going home." Gabe placed his arm around his shoulders and helped him to his feet. When Cale stumbled, Rile edged over to support him.
Alex and Robert waited for them as they made their way out of the cage. She didn't look too steady either, but she brushed aside Robert's offered hand. She bent over the tech, extracted something from his pocket, and stuffed it into hers.
"That was my dose," she explained when they looked at her quizzically. At their shocked expressions, she continued, "It'll buy us more time with Cale if we need it."
"I'll drive my car around to the back door. Déjà vu, huh, Alex?" Robert smiled at her.
She smiled faintly in return.
"Hurry up." Rile kicked Robert's ankle.
"Stop that, he's helping us. If you want to take out some anger, smash the lock on the way out. It should look like a break-in." Alex grinned at him. "I'm tired, not stupid."
He complied and returned to supporting his brother as the alarm wailed. Alex linked arms with Robert as apology for Rile's abuse and they hustled their way back to the parking garage.
They all crammed into Robert's car. Alex called shotgun and the three brothers shoved in the backseat.
"Where to?" Robert asked.
Except for Cale, who was asleep, they all exchanged nervous looks. Giving out their address was not on the agenda.
"Drive down Veteran's Highway. I'll show you where to stop." Alex said.
She ordered Robert to pull into a convenience store and made them wait while she visited the ATM. She plucked the ATM card out of her bra and once she had her cash, stuffed it back in.
Their next stop was a strip motel, heavy on the strip and light on the motel. Alex stalked up to the night clerk.
"All night." She dug out her wad of cash.
"How many you got?" the clerk tried to peer into the car.
"Four plus me. Do you charge per?" Alex replied.
"Depends. I barter."
"It involves blood and permanent scarring," Alex said coldly, touching the side of her face. "On the part of both parties."
The clerk shrank back from the counter. "Hundred. Extra for cleaning."
"Tell anyone and there will be blood and permanent scarring on your part." Alex shoved the money across the desk and the clerk tossed the key, not meeting her gaze.
******
Once in the room, Alex tapped her smart phone. "Dr. Dewey? Can you meet us at the Starlight Motel on Veterans?"
Poor Dr. Dewey. His safety runs a distant second to the brothers'. Robert may have shown himself trustworthy twice, but anyone can be bought.
******
"You found Cale," Dr. Dewey said as he entered the motel room.
"This is Robert," Alex indicated the lab tech at Dr. Dewey's hesitation.
"You're the lab tech who helped Alex? We are grateful." Dr. Dewey said in a courteous manner. He knelt beside Cale. "How is he?"
"Tranked at the moment." Alex flopped into a side chair. "He won't wake up for at least four hours, and then we'll have trouble."
"I hate to add more bad news, but," Robert pulled out the empty syringe. "This is a new chemical they've been shooting into your friend. I don't recognize it. The label on the syringe reads," Robert began talking technical with Dr. Dewey and their conversation was unintelligible to the non-scientists in the room.
Alex closed her eyes and had fallen asleep when she felt a light touch on her arm. Gabe held out a damp cloth.
"For your face. It must hurt," he said.
"My face?" Alex put a hand to the injured side and winced. "Thanks."
She smiled and they traded a long glance, when Dr. Dewey interrupted.
"I have a friend who's a chemist. I'll ask him to analyze this for us." Dr. Dewey stood up. "Robert, would you accompany me? I could use your knowledge."
After Dr. Dewey and Robert left, Rile grumbled, "There go the great white hopes. I suppose we sit here and do nothing while we wait for them."
"I'm taking a nap." Alex said.
*****
A/N
Plot is moving along now! Did it keep you engaged?
Poor Cale! How will he survive withdrawal now? Will the loyal Cale fans kill me?
DianaTheThird