Chapter 19: Sinful Dreams For A Grimm Family

--- ??? ---

In the darkness of the void there was a tangle of consciousness held together by the clinging tendrils of the eldritch that refused to let go of what it had managed to grasp onto in a sea of despair and devastation.

Bathed in the burning orange of a setting sun a little one was dragged away from their other half.

A purple night cast the world into creeping isolation as time passed, happiness of the past slowly fading.

Toxic green filled the air as a thousand needles pierced through flesh and poison flooded through burning veins.

Pain struck the monochrome child, tears already dried as the spine straightened and did as the shadows told.

Cracks filled the air, one moment happy faces bathed in a sky blue light the next they bathed in hellish crimson their screams drowned out by static.

The tendrils reached out, searching for anything that would make the unending pain stop, until finally it wrapped around her own throat and-

--- Vanessa ---

Her eyes shot open as she found herself unable to breath, drowning in ghastly grotesque glowing green.

She pulled against several restraints and her stingers shot out tearing through them in her panic flailing until she was free.

In front of her was a wall of glass and metal that she lashed at with her claws and tail, hoping to tear through it as her frantic swipes left behind scratches, slowly -so painfully slowly- chipping away at the substance.

Suddenly the sea of green began to roar in her ears before she felt herself sinking amongst shifting tides as she struggled to stay afloat.

At least until her feet hit the ground and the world seemed to double in weight as the liquid green sank into the ground, leaving her to fall to her knees now that she was free of her prison.

Still struggling to breath she grabbed the mask on her face and tore both it and the tube going down her throat out, uncaring of what damage it did inside her so long as she could breathe.

The world seemed to spin for several minutes as she did everything to keep from collapsing completely instead of sitting there on her hands and knees.

Eventually the grinding of gears filled the air and she looked up to see the wall of glass and steel slowly parting until she was left with an opening into a large dark metal hall.

Through force of will she made herself stand up, even if it meant leaning against the side of the metal tube she’d been trapped in before slowly climbing out into the hall.

“Fucking hate the healing pods…” The whole experience was something she could happily do without.

Having been through all of this more than once she started towards her left, pausing briefly to spot Nicholas half awake within his own metal tube.

He gave her a lazy wave and she went ahead and hit the manual release switch knowing that he would neither do it on his side nor force the automatic release like she had.

As the healing fluid began to drain from his tube she kept moving past a number of empty tanks, one for every subject in the project living or dead before pausing as Jessica stumbled out of her own pod just a bit ahead of him.

“Vanessa…” The other girl greeted.

“Already… hit Nick’s… release switch.” She told her, still having a bit of trouble breathing as her throat healed.

“That’s… good…” Jessica nodded before Vanessa walked over and threw an arm over her shoulder. “Thanks…”

“Whatever…” She shrugged, not seeing the big deal since she was as much using Jessica to keep upright as the other girl was using her. “Any idea… what took us out?”

Jess shook her head. “No… We were in the common room and then… dreams…”

She matched the other girl’s grimace, knowing exactly what she was talking about. “How bad… was it for you?”

“Different… Not sure how… but different…” Jess tried to explain.

“Hmm…” She grunted, not sure what to do with that.

“Cyn’s… not here…” Jess told her, causing her to stop and realize that Cyn’s tank was still empty.

Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t like that…”

A metal door at the end of the hall opened for a woman in a lab coat. “Oh! Good, you’re all awake.”

“Where’s Cyn?” She asked Holiday before the other woman could say anything else, her eyes faintly burning as they shifted into their black and gold state.

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“Sh-she, um, she needs, uh, additional monitoring!” Holiday squeaked, hiding behind her tablet. “Wh-whatever attacked all of you i-it hit her the hardest!”

Nicholas practically manifested next to her. “What do you mean?”

“Um, uh, there…” Holiday paled from the pressure they were putting her under, before blurting out, “The director needs to talk to all of you!” and fleeing.

--- Jessica ---

Once properly dressed in their uniforms the three of them made their way to the Director’s office, a large room with a wall projecting a live view of the city’s horizon from the head of the company’s office. A view they couldn’t quite afford given the underground nature of their own project’s compound.

Unlike her usual… meetings with the director, not only was her team in attendance but so were doctor Holiday and the chief of security. A man who preferred to keep such a distance from them that she’d never actually learned the man’s name.

The director herself sat at her desk looking exhausted due to the sheer dedication she put into the company and their program.

Off to the side she noted Cynthia sitting in a chair while looking significantly worse for wear, the girl struggling to keep any part of her body from collapsing into the chair. Almost as if she were a puppet with half her strings cut.

“Cyn!” She had to hold out a hand to keep Nicholas from improperly running over without permission, something that would no doubt irritate the director while she was in such a state.

(No matter how much I wish to do the same, we must be professional.) That was the only way to remain valuable agents to the company.

“Good you’re all here.” The Director nodded, looking them all over. “I’ve no doubt you’re all still recovering from your ordeal but given the situation the company has decided to shift several of our priority directives for the time being.”

“How has the situation changed?” Vanessa asked out of turn, a rebellious streak she’d be punished for if not for the sheer value the company placed on her.

The director clicked a button on her desk and the screen behind her changed from the sun shining down on the pristine city the company was based in to the same city with several buildings burnt out, black smoke rising in the distance, and most prominently a massive web of cracks in the sky shining light down all of this.

“That uh, that doesn’t look good…” Nicholas noted, the sudden change drawing his attention from Cyn.

“You are correct. It isn’t.” The Director nodded. “Based on our assets within Sanctuary we’ve determined that the city was hit by multiple Deviant events over the course of a single day. This led to a cascading failure that we are still determining the sheer effects of. What has been determined is this…”

The screen shifted again to show a number of the creatures they were regularly sent out to either kill or capture, as well as a number she didn’t recognize. “Since the event in question the number of creatures commonly referred to as Creeps have risen exponentially to the point where neither we nor Sanctuary can contain them to secrecy. Largely due to an ongoing effect of the event damaging our ability to detect them. That said, this rise in activity presents us with a unique opportunity to rapidly swell our research assets as well as acquire some of the more elusive materials that Deviant phenomenon typically provide.”

A picture of the substance tentatively deemed ‘The Old Blood’ appeared on the screen alongside pictures of a glowing green substance and a black oil like liquid with red streaks.

“Which is why rather than reducing operations until the city reaches a more stable point we are going to take advantage of this opportunity by increasing the number of team assignments you are given, while decreasing the number of individual assignments due to the risk the current situation provides.” The Director explained. “Questions?”

She stepped forward. “Ma’am, if our detection equipment is down, what are our plans for searching for the phenomenon in question? Will we be attempting a patrol schedule?”

The Director looked to Doctor Holiday who stepped forward. “Our preliminary findings have determined that one of the residual effects of the event is that it is flooding our city with an almost atmospheric level of Deviant energies. Thanks to this we believe that -with the proper equipment- subject C will be able to use her usual extrasensory abilities with a greatly expanded range. After discussions with the Director, we’ll be reducing your typical response areas to within the borders of this range.”

“Understood.” She nodded, before returning to her place in line as the Director moved on to other logistics they would need to know for this change in operations.

--- Nicholas Grimm ---

The moment they were done with the director’s presentation -something he only half understood but trusted V and Jess to be able to explain to him if he needed it- he immediately rushed to Cyn.

“Are you alright?” He asked with no small amount of concern.

“Tired nod…” Cyn told him, doing nothing to assuage his worries. “Request. Can you… take me to my room?”

“Of course.” He nodded, before giving her another look. “Do you… do you want me to carry you so it's easier?”

Cyn looked away from him. “Shameful confirmation…”

“There’s nothing wrong with asking for help when you need it.” He assured her, as he picked the young girl up once more upset by just how little she weighed. “Do you want to get something to eat first?”

He was hungry after the healing pods, but he found he was always hungry compared to most people due to how he was… different. Only Vanessa came anywhere close to his usual appetite.

“No… Buries face in comfort seeking.” Cyn answered, digging her face into his chest.

“Nicholas.” Jessica called, causing him to glance for the door where both of the girls were waiting for him. “We shouldn’t waste the Director’s time.”

“Er, right…” He grimaced, noticing that the Director was watching him.

Cyn dug her head into his chest once more and he started moving, his long legs allowing him to quickly reach the girls.

After the door to their big boss’s office closed Jessica took a worried glance at Cyn. “How is she doing?”

“Tired…” Cyn answered weakly.

“Did they… make you test their equipment already?” Vanessa asked, making a good guess at why Cyn was so tired.

The girl was quiet for a moment. “Falseful no…”

V’s face twitched as her eyes turned gold and her fangs extended.

“Well that’s good.” He told Cyn, not letting the girl know she was a terrible liar. “It’s good they aren’t working you too hard or else I’d have to have words with them.”

And even if it cost him his job he would.

“We all will.” Vanessa corrected him, glaring at a nervous looking Jessica.

He gave Jess a small smile knowing that she had their back even if she didn’t know it.

Eventually Jessica nodded while somehow looking somewhere between determined and a panic attack. “Th-that’s correct… I-if it comes down to it, we-we will all go on s-s-strike…” Jess looked around as if she’d said something forbidden. “... until they treat you right Cynthia.”

“Bashful gratitude…” Cyn unknowingly whispered as he held her a little closer, a warmth growing in his own chest.

(Right, it’s the four of us against the world… and if that’s not enough, well… Mathias can be convincing…)