Return of the Re-animator-Chapter 3
Title: Return of the Re-animator
Verse: Same
Characters: Herbert West, Daniel Cain, Megan Halsey, ensemble
Pairings:
Rating: Mature, Adult Situations, Adult Language, Violence, Gore, Sex
Status: Unbeta'd and I know it.
..
Herbert felt awful. No two ways about it, he was in serum withdrawal. It wasn’t a feeling he cared to ever repeat. “When did I last inject myself?’ he questioned, but couldn’t remember. In fact he couldn’t remember how he’d come to be sitting here in Daniel’s basement.
Concentrating as hard as he dared and fearing his head might fall off at the effort, Herbert struggled to get his bearings. The hospital, yes that was it. He had been in the morgue at the hospital. Hill had taken a perverse fancy to Dean Halsey’s daughter. Not that he cared, but Daniel did. Then what? A fight, chemicals spilling, creating a noxious vapor.
Slowly, awareness came. He and Hill had been locked in a death struggle, one in which neither of them had emerged victorious. But that wasn’t true, he was here. He was alive. Or newly alive?
Herbert didn’t know rather to be ecstatic that his re-agent had worked or to be horrified that he might have become one of the mindless zealots that Hill had created. He took stock of the situation. If he were impaired or under Hill’s control, he surely wouldn’t be having these considerations. In fact despite the rotten hang-over like feeling, his mind felt remarkably sharp, razor sharp. He liked the analogy. Shock was what he was feeling, nothing more, he assured himself as the tears came. All his knowledge of the re-agent was intact. “A shame that Dr. Gruber couldn’t be here to witness my triumph,” he mused. But what had happened to Daniel? He should be here. Looking up, he found himself staring into the barrel of a rifle held in the hands of a battered but determined looking Daniel Caine.
Herbert’s eyes widened in disbelief. Had Daniel gone mad? Had he become one of Doctor Hill’s slave zombies? Herbert heard the soft click as Daniel’s finger brushed the trigger. He gasped and threw his hands up over his head. Frantically he yelled out, “Daniel, no!” The words tumbled over one another in desperation to get out “All my work Daniel! “Don’t let Hill win.. not like this!”
The air was still and silent. Herbert couldn’t believe he was still there to notice. Curiosity finally got the best of him. Peering out from under his arms he noted that Caine was still standing in the same position, holding a large ugly weapon pointed at his head.
“Herbert?” queried Daniel, his eyes pleading.
“Of course it’s me, who else would it be!” he shot back. Daniel took a step back but held the rifle in place still pointing at West’s head. Herbert put his hands up in a gesture of surrender and slowly came to his feet. He tottered unsteadily then felt the strength return to his body. He had to buy time to think. “My head feels as if it’s going to explode. Daniel, I don’t know what’s happened, but I do know you’re not a killer. So please, put the gun down and we’ll reason this out.”
Herbert put a hand to his head in an effort to shake off his headache. In truth he was feeling better and better all the time. He could still feel the tremors in his hands from serum withdrawal but the other effects were dissipating.
The expression on Daniel’s face changed rapidly from fear and suspicion to abject relief. The rifle slid from his hands as he fell forward to his knees. “Oh, my God, Herbert it worked ..you’re back.”
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Herbert shook his head slowly as the story came tumbling out of his one and only friend. How Hill had gotten what he thought was final revenge by squeezing the life out of him. Herbert rubbed his bruised ribs thoughtfully as Daniel laid it all out. Seeing Herbert die at Hill’s hands. The mad, desperate dash to the elevators with the formula and Megan in tow. Megan’s demise just as they thought they had gained their freedom from that nightmare.
And in halting description Daniel’s decision to use the re-agent on Megan. Herbert couldn’t help but smile. For all Daniel’s moral indecision and protestations of conscience, when it came right down to it he had used the formula on Megan. Unfortunately for her, with less than perfect results. “I don’t understand why it worked so well on you and on Hill.” “What is the common denominator between you but not the others? Daniel queried.
“I’m glad to see you’re still thinking like a scientist and not a love struck fool,” responded West.
“I’m thinking like a scientist for Megan’s sake,” Daniel countered.
“Hmm.. In any case I think that the fact that I was taking small doses of re-agent prior to my demise might have had an effect on the outcome, although I can’t say why Hill maintained his faculties.” “Probably just to irritate me.”
“Herbert how can you be so blasé?” “You were dead!”
“What’s your point?” West responded. “I have achieved the ultimate. I have conquered death. Everything else rather pales by comparison don’t you think?”
“Oh never mind,” Caine sighed, “it just goes to show that you’re back to your old self.” West’s eyebrows arched ever so slightly.
“Now, how are we going to get Megan out of Miskitonic?” Daniel questioned.
Herbert walked slowly across the room as if pondering the answer to a difficult question. “Are you sure that’s the best course of action?”
“What do you mean?” Daniel asked his voice rising.
“It’s only a matter of time before the police come here. They’re bound to ask a lot of questions that we can’t afford to answer.”
“Precisely the reason we should get her out of there quickly before another doctor decides to examine her,” Daniel said determinedly. His face had that same stubborn set to it that it got every time Herbert proposed doing something, well, slightly distasteful, liking stealing corpses.
“Look I’m thinking of Megan’s welfare as well as our own.” Herbert looked over at Daniel trying to gauge his response. It was obvious that Daniel wasn’t buying it.
“The only thing you’re thinking of is your damn research! No matter who gets hurt, the experiment goes on, isn’t that right?! Daniel ranted.
“Now wait a minute Dan, we’re going to have to leave here.. tonight. How do you expect to retrieve Miss Halsey and take her with us in her condition? She’ll tear you limb from limb,” Herbert responded in a deliberately reasonable tone.
There was a static pause before Dan responded. “You owe me Herbert, if I hadn’t come after you and given you an injection of re-agent you would have been in the padded cell next to Megan,” he said in a low tone.
“You don’t know that, besides it looked more like you were trying to kill me than help me!” Herbert lashed out, his voicing rising an octave.
“That’s not true and you know it! The way I see it, you need me right now as much as I need you.”
Herbert’s eyes questioned.
“Or are you forgetting that you’re going to need re-agent on a regular schedule. You don’t know yet what kind of complications there may be,” Daniel stated, “You need me.”
Actually, Herbert was hoping Daniel would forget that, at least until they were well away from Arkham. He knew that he would require maintenance doses of re-agent but given the volatile nature of the reaction it caused, he wouldn’t be able to manage alone. Not until he completed his research. The hardest part was over but he couldn’t afford to become careless at this late stage.
What it came down to was Daniel was the only person he trusted and he needed his cooperation. A brief image of himself eviscerating a screaming, struggling Daniel washed over Herbert’s mind unbidden.
Herbert shook off the rather pleasant sensation and resigned himself to enacting his friend’s demand to retrieve Megan. It wouldn’t be an easy proposition. They would have to get in and out of Miskitonic Hospital while its halls were filled with police, reporters and the like, sedate Megan Halsey and carry her past the aforementioned.
“It’s going to be impossible,” Herbert grumbled.
“Not for you,” countered Daniel, “You’ve conquered death remember? The rest is easy.” Herbert was not amused, having already died once he was not anxious to repeat the experience.
Daniel clapped him on the shoulder, “I have every confidence in you, Herbert.”
Herbert responded with a withering look. “Swell.”
Verse: Same
Characters: Herbert West, Daniel Cain, Megan Halsey, ensemble
Pairings:
Rating: Mature, Adult Situations, Adult Language, Violence, Gore, Sex
Status: Unbeta'd and I know it.
..
Herbert felt awful. No two ways about it, he was in serum withdrawal. It wasn’t a feeling he cared to ever repeat. “When did I last inject myself?’ he questioned, but couldn’t remember. In fact he couldn’t remember how he’d come to be sitting here in Daniel’s basement.
Concentrating as hard as he dared and fearing his head might fall off at the effort, Herbert struggled to get his bearings. The hospital, yes that was it. He had been in the morgue at the hospital. Hill had taken a perverse fancy to Dean Halsey’s daughter. Not that he cared, but Daniel did. Then what? A fight, chemicals spilling, creating a noxious vapor.
Slowly, awareness came. He and Hill had been locked in a death struggle, one in which neither of them had emerged victorious. But that wasn’t true, he was here. He was alive. Or newly alive?
Herbert didn’t know rather to be ecstatic that his re-agent had worked or to be horrified that he might have become one of the mindless zealots that Hill had created. He took stock of the situation. If he were impaired or under Hill’s control, he surely wouldn’t be having these considerations. In fact despite the rotten hang-over like feeling, his mind felt remarkably sharp, razor sharp. He liked the analogy. Shock was what he was feeling, nothing more, he assured himself as the tears came. All his knowledge of the re-agent was intact. “A shame that Dr. Gruber couldn’t be here to witness my triumph,” he mused. But what had happened to Daniel? He should be here. Looking up, he found himself staring into the barrel of a rifle held in the hands of a battered but determined looking Daniel Caine.
Herbert’s eyes widened in disbelief. Had Daniel gone mad? Had he become one of Doctor Hill’s slave zombies? Herbert heard the soft click as Daniel’s finger brushed the trigger. He gasped and threw his hands up over his head. Frantically he yelled out, “Daniel, no!” The words tumbled over one another in desperation to get out “All my work Daniel! “Don’t let Hill win.. not like this!”
The air was still and silent. Herbert couldn’t believe he was still there to notice. Curiosity finally got the best of him. Peering out from under his arms he noted that Caine was still standing in the same position, holding a large ugly weapon pointed at his head.
“Herbert?” queried Daniel, his eyes pleading.
“Of course it’s me, who else would it be!” he shot back. Daniel took a step back but held the rifle in place still pointing at West’s head. Herbert put his hands up in a gesture of surrender and slowly came to his feet. He tottered unsteadily then felt the strength return to his body. He had to buy time to think. “My head feels as if it’s going to explode. Daniel, I don’t know what’s happened, but I do know you’re not a killer. So please, put the gun down and we’ll reason this out.”
Herbert put a hand to his head in an effort to shake off his headache. In truth he was feeling better and better all the time. He could still feel the tremors in his hands from serum withdrawal but the other effects were dissipating.
The expression on Daniel’s face changed rapidly from fear and suspicion to abject relief. The rifle slid from his hands as he fell forward to his knees. “Oh, my God, Herbert it worked ..you’re back.”
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Herbert shook his head slowly as the story came tumbling out of his one and only friend. How Hill had gotten what he thought was final revenge by squeezing the life out of him. Herbert rubbed his bruised ribs thoughtfully as Daniel laid it all out. Seeing Herbert die at Hill’s hands. The mad, desperate dash to the elevators with the formula and Megan in tow. Megan’s demise just as they thought they had gained their freedom from that nightmare.
And in halting description Daniel’s decision to use the re-agent on Megan. Herbert couldn’t help but smile. For all Daniel’s moral indecision and protestations of conscience, when it came right down to it he had used the formula on Megan. Unfortunately for her, with less than perfect results. “I don’t understand why it worked so well on you and on Hill.” “What is the common denominator between you but not the others? Daniel queried.
“I’m glad to see you’re still thinking like a scientist and not a love struck fool,” responded West.
“I’m thinking like a scientist for Megan’s sake,” Daniel countered.
“Hmm.. In any case I think that the fact that I was taking small doses of re-agent prior to my demise might have had an effect on the outcome, although I can’t say why Hill maintained his faculties.” “Probably just to irritate me.”
“Herbert how can you be so blasé?” “You were dead!”
“What’s your point?” West responded. “I have achieved the ultimate. I have conquered death. Everything else rather pales by comparison don’t you think?”
“Oh never mind,” Caine sighed, “it just goes to show that you’re back to your old self.” West’s eyebrows arched ever so slightly.
“Now, how are we going to get Megan out of Miskitonic?” Daniel questioned.
Herbert walked slowly across the room as if pondering the answer to a difficult question. “Are you sure that’s the best course of action?”
“What do you mean?” Daniel asked his voice rising.
“It’s only a matter of time before the police come here. They’re bound to ask a lot of questions that we can’t afford to answer.”
“Precisely the reason we should get her out of there quickly before another doctor decides to examine her,” Daniel said determinedly. His face had that same stubborn set to it that it got every time Herbert proposed doing something, well, slightly distasteful, liking stealing corpses.
“Look I’m thinking of Megan’s welfare as well as our own.” Herbert looked over at Daniel trying to gauge his response. It was obvious that Daniel wasn’t buying it.
“The only thing you’re thinking of is your damn research! No matter who gets hurt, the experiment goes on, isn’t that right?! Daniel ranted.
“Now wait a minute Dan, we’re going to have to leave here.. tonight. How do you expect to retrieve Miss Halsey and take her with us in her condition? She’ll tear you limb from limb,” Herbert responded in a deliberately reasonable tone.
There was a static pause before Dan responded. “You owe me Herbert, if I hadn’t come after you and given you an injection of re-agent you would have been in the padded cell next to Megan,” he said in a low tone.
“You don’t know that, besides it looked more like you were trying to kill me than help me!” Herbert lashed out, his voicing rising an octave.
“That’s not true and you know it! The way I see it, you need me right now as much as I need you.”
Herbert’s eyes questioned.
“Or are you forgetting that you’re going to need re-agent on a regular schedule. You don’t know yet what kind of complications there may be,” Daniel stated, “You need me.”
Actually, Herbert was hoping Daniel would forget that, at least until they were well away from Arkham. He knew that he would require maintenance doses of re-agent but given the volatile nature of the reaction it caused, he wouldn’t be able to manage alone. Not until he completed his research. The hardest part was over but he couldn’t afford to become careless at this late stage.
What it came down to was Daniel was the only person he trusted and he needed his cooperation. A brief image of himself eviscerating a screaming, struggling Daniel washed over Herbert’s mind unbidden.
Herbert shook off the rather pleasant sensation and resigned himself to enacting his friend’s demand to retrieve Megan. It wouldn’t be an easy proposition. They would have to get in and out of Miskitonic Hospital while its halls were filled with police, reporters and the like, sedate Megan Halsey and carry her past the aforementioned.
“It’s going to be impossible,” Herbert grumbled.
“Not for you,” countered Daniel, “You’ve conquered death remember? The rest is easy.” Herbert was not amused, having already died once he was not anxious to repeat the experience.
Daniel clapped him on the shoulder, “I have every confidence in you, Herbert.”
Herbert responded with a withering look. “Swell.”