A/N: Hi :3

Sorry the chapter is a little short but I really wanted to post something up tonight. I'm still in the middle of writing up the other two works and I hope to have an update for one of them by next weekend.

If not, I will be on holidays for Easter in 2/3 weeks and will definitely be updating them :)

Till then, thank you for being so patient with me and I apologise immensely for the lag in everything. Work is extremely busy...and will be for a really really long time. Being paid helps though (just)

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Chapter Thirty-Four: Grim Reaper

Letting out a breath, Seth waited for Siem's next move...and fix the lights/assess just how much damage Kae unleashed. He had recounted the events, as had X but Kae was, well, incapacitated at the moment. The gashes along his shoulder were festered and meant he wasn't completely immune to a Queen. They were shallow but they continued to seep black goo, even through the layers and layers of white bandages that are now wrapped around them. The boy's form was completely exposed without the hoodie. Seth had made the joke about his weight but in all seriousness, looking at him now, the kid was almost malnourished. Dark circles ringed his eyes and he looked like he was on the verge of slipping into a coma, even in his sleep. But despite all his 'human', his right arm completely subtracted from it, making almost everyone in the room warily glance at it every now and again...plus the giant glowing tiger sticking to his side probably didn't help. The tiger, Lady, stares into the boy's face, nudging him every now and then with her nose in distress.

Siem had sent out some of his men (and Hanna was chained to the floor to stop from joining them) to profile the 'Old World' rain and storm water system, collect the left over sludge that was once the Queen and the bits flaking away and washing into that goddamn lake. They had also collected the information for the holographic reconstruction of the area that Kae just destroyed and from the somewhat angry discussion Seth could overhear Siem having, Kae royally fucked almost all the data over.

They were stuck watching Siem relaying the orders back in his office through the door he left open and refusing to dismiss them just yet. Rain was in a corner as far removed from the kid as possible, busily glaring at the sod but at least was retaining the need to verbally contribute to the mess.

But X, as rare as it was, was holding onto Kae like he was something precious...a human emotion that Seth could bet was virtually foreign to a manufactured Death God.

X was far more in tune with that part of him that was created to be that perfect weapon on the battlefield than any other of his kind and probably ever will be. Seth could vividly recall such a time when X was an indestructible killing machine. In such a lop-sided battle, a single small form emerges from the bodies and fire. It had the form of a child, no more than fourteen, eyes reflecting the surroundings with perfect precision, never wavering, never shifting from the single goal; kill.

It darted around the battlefield like a ghost, tearing everything limb from limb without restraint or feeling.

Seth was another subject forced to undertake the experiments but he could never recreate the same results or beauty of death that, that X had. Because Oz and Siem saved him before he completely lost his humanity. Something he was quietly grateful for everyday.

X never had that luxury.

So it was surprising to all of them at just how...was the word 'obsessed'?- X was becoming with Kae. But then again no one has ever heard of a Miasmic Beast sitting in a room of humans without wanting to tear them to shreds. There was something...'special' or maybe 'off' about this Outsider.

Siem walks back into the room, his footsteps heavily clicking, "Kae has managed to affect systems on all floors. This includes the private property. It isn't too extensive beyond a blackout on the floors above and below here and that's what I am going with at this point. The backup power supply to the medic floors are currently running while we are trying to restore power. Structural damage hasn't extended beyond this room but it isn't anything too drastic beyond replacing the window. However, he's managed to affect all the files concerning this case...and anything on Bellasera."

Hanna lets out a breath, "Well, since he's going to be out for the next twelve hours, if not more, I believe it's time to leave him be. This time uninterrupted." Seth could tell that Hanna was trying to hide her annoyance at the hours and hours of research she has complied in her spare time just literally went up in smoke.

"...Fine."

"Good." She then mutters under her breath, "Why you needed the information out of him now is beyond-"

"Hanna. Did you just listen to a single word he just said?" Siem's voice became slow and controlled. "The subject that was used as the Queen's chrysalis was not from this city. They managed to slip through the security systems in place within the Fence and plant it without alerting any of the defences. They have managed to actually destroy the subject's registration without alerting any of the official authorities. Globally. This case is too strange. And I'm meeting with Yue in twenty-five minutes. I cannot present nothing when explaining why we were moving about old city infrastructure this morning without clearance."

"And what Kae's just done with in fact made it worse," Rain snapped.

Seth pulls away from the wall, "We wouldn't have known that the Queen was not a subject from Bolin. Worse, a targeted citizen. For them to use a 'normal' person..."

"But you have no liable evidence to prove this. It's an Outsider's word. How can anyone trust-"

"What reason would Kae lie, Rain? What could he gain?"

"That isn't the issue. Are we sure that...whatever drug-trip he went on was real? Can we be sure that Bolin's higher-ups will take what we say at face value?"

"Not like they have a choice-"

"Enough. Rain. That is my problem. Not yours. If you have no more to report, you are dismissed for the day." Siem's growl reverberates in the tense air. Waiting for him to leave, he turns to Hanna, "Get the techs onto this and see how much they will need to re-collect from the site. If we leave it too long, the city police will be starting to sniff about."

"Right. Well...X, we should move Kae to the medic ward."

"No." X moves towards the door, holding onto Kae gently in his arms. "Let him sleep somewhere away from the 'noise'. Let your patients heal on their own. He has done enough. Anymore and it will break him."

Hanna stares after him, "That wasn't what I meant, X."

"I know." But he still walked away, Lady not far behind him with a swish of her tail.

Hanna exhales, "Dammit. I only wanted to keep an eye on him in case something goes wrong. Kae's mental and physical health are too imbalanced."

Seth steps up to the door, "If there is nothing you need from me-"

"Seth Leonardo Black!" The minute he opened the door, Oz was right in front of him like a tall jingling shadow.

Seth mentally sighs.

"What right do you think you have to use my car without my permission?"

"Oh my god, someone's on fire!" Seth points behind Oz.

As soon as Oz took the bait, Seth pushes past him and makes his escape.

"Oi, you damned brat, get back here!" Oz charges after him.

Seth manages to slip into the elevator with X, just as the doors shut, leaving Oz angrily muffled shouting at the doors on the other side.

X watches Seth carefully, "You cannot outrun him forever, Seth."

"I can try." He could feel X still staring at him. "I'll deal with him later. How is the kid?"

X meets him with silence.

Seth could take that as a sign to stop asking. Instead he went with, "Where are you going to take him?"

"...Down. Away from all the noise."

"...Back where they've already placed him?"

"Too much noise," X shakes his head. "Too many know where that place is. Must be..." he slightly cocks his head to the side as if someone had just spoken to him. "...quiet and away from eyes."

"You aren't thinking the Abandoned Grounds?" Seth couldn't stop his brow from dipping.

X met him with more silence.

He couldn't supress the sigh. "It's up to you. But if Kae needs medical help, he'll be too far away."

"It would be better if he is as far away from Hanna as possible, for a while. Besides, I will be with him. It will be safe, away from everything and everyone. He won't need to fear what he is or what he can do."

Seth stares at Kae's slump form, "...If you think it's wise. But I don't think it's wise to put him somewhere where he could collapse the entire building from its foundations. But maybe it's a good idea. He will need to start training eventually. Understanding the training grounds would also be a good idea." The elevator stops on the dining floor and Seth jumps off. "X," he puts his hand up to stop the door from closing. "You need to be aware that the kid doesn't like himself. That he is petrified of what he is."

"...I know. You know as well."

"Yes. But unlike you or even me, he isn't going to cope by thinking it through. His thoughts will be too dark for him to process. He hasn't gone through the same experiences or training as us."

"I will be with him," X repeats, a frown forming on his face. A rare sighting to see any sort of emotion painting his features as the doors finally shut between them.