I sit on one of the tables, watching Zero through the glass wall.

He's asleep on the floor, a random scientist said he should wake up any second now.

I refuse to call him Subject Zero. It makes him sound like a thing, not a person. It's bad enough that he's thought of as an Experiment, even if he does have deadly skin....yeah calling him Zero seems fine.

The table has been cleared of equipment and a nurse keeps checking me over and over again, talking about how my heart should settle down in a minute and how I'm lucky he didn't break a rib or kill me, etc.

My dad talks with the woman I saw him come down here with, who I figured out was Mrs. Clark, head of the mental research development. Basically, she'll be the one studying his brain and reactions, which kind of makes this sound like an asylum where they study a wacko. I know there's a person for physical research, but I haven't met them yet.

Mrs. Clark and my dad make their way over, talking to the nurse, before dismissing her when they find out I'm not seriously injured, just a little bruised.

Dad glares at me, his parenting side coming out in a wave of heat with a look that yells 'you're grounded!'. Mrs. Clark just studies me, and I study her right back.

She has faded strawberry blonde hair, and sharp green eyes that absorb everything. Her pencil skirt and blouse make her look overly professional and I get the feeling she doesn't like me based on the way she turns her nose up when looking down at me, like I'm some bug that scurried over her shoe.

"You're lucky to be alive." Mrs. Clark says in a cool tone, getting straight down to business like I expected she would.

"Damn right you're lucky!" My father bursts, no longer containing his rage. "What if he thought you were an enemy? He would've killed you. He still could've killed you without meaning too. You're never coming down here again, young lady, and-."

Mrs. Clark holds up her hand, silencing him even though he's her boss.

"Actually, let's take into consideration the fact that he doesn't see her as an enemy. This could be very well used to study exactly how the cogs in his head turn when deciding who's friend and who's foe."

"What are you getting at?" Dad asks, suspicion in his eyes.

"I'm just saying it would be very beneficial to have Ashley here be the one to correspond with Subject Zero."

"Wait, you want me to talk with him? After what just happened?" I interrupt. I don't have anything against Zero, eh didn't hurt me after all, but I'm not going back in their knowing he could crush me or kill me by doing something as simple as touch, even if he doesn't mean to.

"Well you'll be more secured, with guards on hand with sedatives. And we've created this new suit for him so the only skin showing will be his head."

I stare at Mrs. Clark, shock and fear on my face, the same way my dad is looking at her.

"Absolutely not! Don't you already have your chosen people selected to go talk to him?"

"Yes, but we haven't sent them in yet. Here, how about this? We send each of my team members inside with Subject Zero for say five minutes and see how he reacts. Then, we send Ashley in and see how it goes. If Ashley does better than the other team members in getting information from him, then she stays on the team. If she doesn't, she goes back to being a secretary."

I can't help myself, part of me is intrigued by this idea. Even though seconds ago I was resolute in not wanting to go in there, my mind sways when thinking about how exciting this whole ordeal could be, especially when compared to sitting at a desk all day.

Make up your mind! My consciousness yells at me, and I make my decision.

"I don't mind giving it a try," I finally say hesitantly, and before my father can protest, Mrs. Clark turns to me and smiles.

"Good. You'll be needing this." She says, giving me my very own key card. "Meet down here tomorrow morning at eight. You'll meet the rest of the team and Experiment Zero shall officially begin."

My father takes me home immediately after that, and he brought the car. We ride home in silence, the tension high between us. I can tell he doesn't like the idea, but at the same time he does. It's his inner father waging war against his inner scientist.

"Dad?" I finally ask, breaking the silence. "Why Zero? Why not Subject One?"

Dad sighs, but I feel him giving in to my questions. "Experiment Zero is a project started a very long time ago, before Braun labs even existed. Every experiment we work on is given a code and number to classify it in the government system, but Experiment Zero has been such a tricky and vague thing to research, that it wasn't given a number. Therefore, we scientists refer to it as Experiment Zero. We call Zero by that name because he has shown no sign of speaking our language, and we can't exactly call him something random like Billy, now can we?"

"I guess that makes sense, but what makes his people so different from our own?" I ask, wondering how much more of a difference there is between him and I, minus the deadly skin.

"They can do certain......things, normal people can't. As you saw, they have immense strength. Subject Zero probably thought he was lightly hugging you, while you thought he was crushing you. Another factor is his deadly touch and the way he's able to incapacitate a man just by brushing his skin against them. We also have reason to believe.....you know what? Never mind. It's ridiculous."

I don't push him for more, trying to process it all.

When we get home, I take a shower and try to fall asleep, but sleep evades me. I'm exhausted, but I can't help thinking about tomorrow.

Why do I feel like I'm being thrown into a lion's den?

Tomorrow morning, I get up at seven. I curl my hair and put a nice white, long sleeved blouse on with dark blue jeans. I put on grey heeled boots and clip my key card onto my pants pocket as an accessory.

Dad drives me, promising me the entire time he'll make sure I'm safe, and that he'll be there the entire time. Part of me wants to scream and run the other direction when we arrive at the lab, but the other wants to go in head first.

I wave at Peter as we walk past, and he gives me an apologetic look, probably because he heard about what happened on the bottom floor. He adverts his eyes when my dad glares at him, probably blaming him for me being down there last night.

The elevator ride down is slightly tense, both of us worrying about what could go wrong.

The door opens and I see a few people already inside. The glass wall is curtained off, yet again, making me wonder what Zero is doing in there.

I walk over to Mrs. Clark, who's talking with three other people.

"Ah, Ashley. I would like to introduce you to the rest of the team you'll be working with if today goes well."

I first look to the guy, who looks maybe a few years older than me. He has red hair and many freckles, but for some reason, he can pull it off as manly.

"I'm Jack. Nice to meet you Ashley." He says, extending a hand. I smile and take it, giving it a firm shake.

Next I turn to a girl, who looks my age, with mousy brown hair and delicate features. "Hello. I'm Shelby, but most people call me Shy." She says in a very quiet voice. I smile warmly at her, liking her the most so far.

Finally I turn to the next girl, who's taller than me with blonde hair and gorgeous features. She looks me over and sniffs, turning her nose up. "Sylvia." Is all she says.

"Okay, since I already explained this to the others, listen carefully." Mrs. Clark says, directing her gaze towards me. "You will choose something to bring in there, or you can choose to bring nothing at all. Your options are on that table over there. You will go last, so for now you are free to observe. Just for today, we didn't want Subject Zero getting distracted, so we covered the glass with a one way veil, that will allow us to see in, but he can't see out. We'll be watching the whole thing, so if anything goes wrong, give us a signal."

I nod, thinking I've got the gist of it down. She waves at two people standing by, gesturing for them to open the outer curtain, and that's when I catch my first glimpse of Zero since last night.

He's sitting against the wall, seeming almost sleepy in a kind of cute way, which doesn't match his physique at all.

Okay, he's tired. Tired is good. Tired means he probably won't be in the mood for sudden escapes or bone crushing hugs.

My eyes move from his face to take in his new outfit. A grey bodysuit, with matching gloves and boots. The only thing that isn't covered is his head, and I curiously watch as he tugs at the turtleneck of the outfit, seeming to find it irritating.

I make my way over to the table Mrs.Clark pointed out and see there's a couple food options, a camera, a pillow, and a board game. I don't know what to pick, so I decide to try out nothing for this first time. I don't want him using anything against me as a weapon. Then again, I doubt he'd even need a weapon in the first place.

My eyes are once again pulled to the room when I hear the huge door open.

Zero's head snaps up as Shy enters with a handful of candy. She sits against the wall, and tries to slide the candy towards him. He just stares at the colorful wrappers, before turning his head to look at the opposite wall.

I notice his room has furniture, items they must have moved into the cell when he was knocked out last night. There's a small cot that is almost on the floor, and a sink, along with a toilet.

Like a prisoner.

Shy leaves him alone, letting him do his own thing for the rest of the few minutes, and I think Zero is relieved about it.

Shy's time is up, and as she walks past Mrs. Clark she lowers her head in shame at her disapproving stare.

Jack goes next, bringing the pillow. He sets it down on the bed, motioning for Zero to try and cuddle with it. Jack looks ridiculous, and I can tell Zero thinks so too because he looks bored, not bothering to get up from his spot. Jack seems to have fun with it, and he gets the bonus of getting to cuddle with a pillow for five minutes, so who am I to judge?

Lastly, Sylvia enters, bringing the camera. She is the first to dare getting close to him and tries to show him how to work the digital camera, even though he doesn't look like he's listening. Sylvia finally tosses the camera to him with an annoyed huff. Zero catches it and looks down at the camera with what I first take as interest, but then I gasp as he clenches his hand into a fist, destroying the camera and making metal bits rain down on the ground. Sylvia glares at him in frustration before storming out, obviously not pleased that this handsome stranger hasn't taking a liking to her.

Before I know it, It's my turn and I fidget nervously in front of the heavy metal door.

What if he hates me after what happened last night? Getting on the bad side of the man who just crushed that camera to bits without breaking a sweat doesn't seem like a very good option at the moment. I really, really hope he's not the type of guy to hold grudges.

Taking a deep breath, I open the door and step through, hands clasping each other in front of me.

Zero is immediately standing, his grey eyes fixed on my own.

Freezing, I look down only to catch sight of his glove which is bloody, probably because the camera cut him when he smashed it. Which reminds me that he could probably also crush my head with one hand. Gulping, I move closer, motioning for him to take off the glove that's stained with blood.

He seems to understand and removes it. I go over to the sink, turning on the water and waving him over. He slowly approaches, cautious and I don't blame him. Who knows what these Scientists have done to him along with taking him from his home and locking him in a cell. Not to mention the way I let him be tranquilized like some rabid dog last night.

Sighing while snapping out of my thoughts, I put my hand in the water, making sure it's warm, before gesturing for him to do the same. He complies, washing the blood away. Slowly, I reach for his arm, taking the clothed limb in my slightly shaky hand. I examine his hand, careful not to touch it.

His hand looks fine, basically only scraped, and I wonder if that scares me more.

I sit on the floor, thinking he wouldn't like it of I sat on his cot. He follows my lead, sitting across from me, and closer than I'm comfortable with. I scoot back and he watches me with those steel eyes that send shivers down my spine. Then, an idea comes to my mind.

"Ash-ley," I say slowly, pointing to myself. I do it again, and then another time. Zero stares at me before slowly nodding.

"Ash-ie," he says, to which I calmly nod, but in my head thoughts are running a hundred miles an hour.

So he can pronounce English syllables just fine, but he doesn't seem to be familiar with the words.

"Better. Ash-ley," I repeat again. "Now put it together. Ashley. Ashley."

"Ashie," He says, a smirk on his face. Why do I have the feeling he's pronouncing my name wrong on purpose? What if he really is familiar with the words? It's either that or I'm being too critical. He would have communicated by now if he knew English. I shake my head lightly, deciding to move on.

"Zero." I say, pointing at him. This time he's confused, scrunching up his face. I sigh. I would be confused too if my name was Ashley and someone came up to me and told me it was Zero.

Suddenly, I have an idea.

I can teach Zero. Our language isn't that hard to learn, and he seems like a quick learner. He sees me perk up and looks alert, probably wondering what's causing the crazy glint in my eyes.

I laugh aloud at the thought, startlingly him. He stares at me intensely, before reaching the hand that isn't covered by his glove out to me. I inhale sharply in panic, immediately scrambling backward. The man jumps up, looking around frantically, before coming near me.

"No! Don't touch me!" I exclaim, before taking a deep breath. It's not his fault. I need to calm down and teach him. If only his glove wasn't ripped to shreds. That would certainly put me more at ease.

I pat the ground after a few moments of calming down, gesturing for him sit down. He keeps eyeing me, and it almost makes me chuckle. It's funny how he seems scared of me, when he could crush me like a grape.

"What do you think about learning the ways of the humans?" I smile.

Dear readers, hope you enjoyed! We've learned a little bit more about Zero in this chapter, but trust me, this is barely scraping the surface. Vote, comment, and sleep in a bunk bed(They are fun, but then you climb in the top one and the mattress creaks and you're freaking out cause your scared the whole bunk will go crashing down because of your weight) XD. Lots of love,

Dangeroustoken